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Tees Barrage International White Water Course
Teesside White Water course
	Upper settling pool of the Tees Barrage International White Water Course (2008)
About
Locale	Stockton-on-Tees
Coordinates	54°33′55.62″N 1°17′8.34″W / 54.5654500°N 1.2856500°W
Road access	via A66 in Thornaby-on-Tees
Maintained by	British Waterways
Managing agent	Tees Active Limited
Main shape	loop
Adjustable	yes, via RapidBlocs
Water source	Tees Barrage on the River Tees
Pumped	optional
Flow diversion	optional
Class	1 – 3 (4)
Practice pool	flatwater course
Surf wave	yes
Lighting	Flood and spot-lights
Facilities	day and overnight
Construction	1991–1995
Opening date	22 April 1995
Date upgraded	2010–2011
Stats
Loops	Two, one long and one short
Length	Long: 250 metres (820 ft); Short: 95 metres (312 ft)
Width	7 metres (23 ft)
Drop	3.7 metres (12 ft)
Slope	Long: 78 ft/mi (1.5%); Short: 205 ft/mi (3.9%);
Flowrate	14 m3/s (494 ft3/s)
	TBIWWC

Tees Barrage
International
White Water Course

Legend

Long 'Jubilee' Course

					River Tees inlet
					Course Centre
					Flat-water course
					Access road
					Barrage bridge
					Surf wave
					Upper settling pool
					Footbridge
					Happy Eater
					Rapids and mini pool
					Cruncher
					Valentines
					Footbridge
					Lower settling pool
					Conveyor belt canoe lift

Short 'Diamond' Course

					Surf wave
					Upper settling pool
					Footbridge
					Pool
					Footbridge
					Pool
					Pool
					Lower settling pool

Key

					Conveyor belt canoe lift

54°33′55.62″N 1°17′8.34″W / 54.5654500°N 1.2856500°W / 54.5654500; -1.2856500

The Tees Barrage International White Water Course, originally the Teesside White Water Course, is an artificial whitewater course on the north bank of the River Tees, in northern England. It is part of the Tees Barrage and is located in the Stockton-on-Tees district, accessible by road only from Thornaby-on-Tees and best accessed by the A66. The course was built in 1995 at a cost of £2 million.^[1] The course is now open once more under the new name TBIWWC (Tees Barrage International White Water Centre).

Facilities

The course is owned by the Canal & River Trust but administered by Tees Active from the on-site watersports centre.^[2] The white water facility offers kayaking, whitewater slalom, playboating and white water rafting plus surfing on the 'surf wave'.

The centre's facilities include a high ropes course, a placid practice pool; watersports centre, shop and cafe; car parking, camping, picnicking and caravanning areas; bandstand and landscaped amphitheatre, The Talpore pub, a restaurant and hotel. The course itself is a U-shaped loop,^[3] 250 m long, 7 m wide with a 3.7 m drop and a flow of 14 cumecs (m³/s).^[1] The immediate environs of the white water course include the Teesdale Way cycle path (National Cycle Network), the River Tees, the Tees Barrage and the placid grade A two star waters of the river Tees; the David Lloyd Leisure racquet centre, a superstore and Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve.

Operation

The state of the course can depend on the level of the tide in the River Tees. The course can operate by flow diversion for two or three hours either side of low tide^[3] but can operate at any time when the pumps are used. The course can operate all year round and in hours of darkness when it is flood-lit, and spot-lit on the two footbridges.

Photo gallery (2008)

Tees Barrage White Water Course Centre and practice/warm up pool
Happy Eater pool
Rapids in front of the bandstand
Cruncher pool
Valentines pool
Pedestrian bridge and final rapids
Lower settling pool
One of the many public interpretation and information boards around the course.

Redevelopment

In 2010 and 2011, there was a £4.6 million redevelopment of the course. The changes include the addition of a new shorter, steeper course and a canoe lift.

Four large 12 m long 3 m diameter Archimedes' screws were installed to pump water from the bottom pool to the top pool guaranteeing water levels for paddlers at all states of the tide.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] There are plans to generate electricity from the head of river water above the barrage by putting the Archimedes' screws into reverse when not pumping water around the course, making the course more energy efficient.^[4]^[6]^[7] These improvements made the site a world class training facility which is proposed as a training camp location for the 2012 Olympic games.^[4]^[5]^[7]^[8] Work started in March 2010 and was completed in October 2011.^[9] Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, visited Stockton on 18 July 2012 to officially reopen the International White Water Course as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom.^[10]

Popular culture

The course was used in a segment of the film 1917. In the scene, the actor George MacKay jumps into a river in France and is flung over rapids and a waterfall.^[11]

An episode of Emmerdale, where the character Victoria Sugden fell down a waterfall, was filmed at the course.^[12]

Note

The Tees Barrage International White Water Course is not to be confused with The River Tees Watersports Centre, Dugdale Street, Stockton-on-Tees 1 km further upriver on the same side near the Princess of Wales Bridge or indeed the Castlegate Quay Water Sports Centre a little further up-river near Teesquay Millennium Bridge.

References

^ ^a ^b "Whitewater Parks Worldwide". Mississippi Whitewater Park Development Corporation. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
^ "Tees White Water Course". Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
^ ^a ^b Redding, Mike. "River Tees Barrage". The UK Rivers Guidebook. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Team GB Future Olympic Stars Training at Tees Barrage" (PDF). British Waterways & Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative. 8 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b McKenzie, Sandy (25 June 2008). "Public backing for £3.5m Tees Barrage development". Gazette Live. Teesside: Evening Gazette. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
^ ^a ^b Walker, Tom (13 June 2008). "Tees Barrage International White-Water Course upgrades". leisureopportunities.com. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Team GB Future Olympic Stars Training at Tees Barrage". Middlesbrough Council. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2009. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b "Information about River Tees". waterscape.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
^ "Upgrade begins on Tees Barrage white water course". Gazette Live. Teesside: Evening Gazette. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
^ "Queen Elizabeth in Stockton as part of North-east visit". Evening Gazette. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
^ Barnard, Ashley (12 January 2020). "Tees Barrage takes starring role in film". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
^ "Emmerdale's 'biggest ever stunt' filmed at Tees Barrage aired on TV this week". Gazette Live. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.