River Tawe Barrage - Maritime Quarter - Swansea, Wales.
N 51° 36.964 W 003° 55.796
30U E 435615 N 5718747
The 'Swansea Barrage' or the official name 'River Tawe Barrage' - Completed in 1992 creating a new marina at the mouth of the River Tawe. The Barrage & Fish Pass are located at the Maritime Quarter, Swansea, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMQCHP
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/05/2016
Views: 3
The River Tawe Barrage extends the leisure boat facilities already being offered by the previous South Dock Marina.
The barrage structure includes a boat lock, spillway, fish pass and generator turbine. Swansea Bay (and upper reaches of the Bristol Channel) experience a large tidal range Average 25 feet Spring tides 33 feet. The shipping ports in Swansea Bay are Swansea Docks, Port Talbot Docks and Briton Ferry wharfs.
The day I visited the River Tawe was in flood, also the tide was only about 6 feet away from high tide. The Sea overflows the barrage on High Tides. I have included links to images below.
"This was the UK’s first barrage across an estuary designed for amenity. Construction started in 1990 and ended in 1992, when the Tawe was impounded to create a long lake. Previously mudflats had been exposed along the banks by each falling tide.
The barrage features a fish pass, for salmon and sea trout to return from the sea to their native rivers to spawn. Initially there was a drop in the numbers of fish reaching the lower Tawe. The fish pass was therefore improved in 2000. The lake north of the barrage is mainly freshwater, but the barrage was designed to allow high tides to overtop to maintain the brackish environment needed by migratory fish at this stage in their journeys." Text Source; (
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Great photos of the Tawe Barrage & Fish Ladder; (
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