Woolwich Foot Tunnel was opened in 1912 (ten years after the upstream Greenwich Tunnel) to allow workers to easily cross the Thames to work, the flow being predominantly south to north. It was designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice and the contractors were Walter Scott and Middleton. The south of the tunnel is in the London Borough of Greenwich and the north in the London Borough of Newham.
The tunnel is 1,655 feet (504 metres) long and the crown about 10 feet below the river bed. At high tide it lies under a further 70 feet of water. Both entrance buildings are listed Grade II. Lifts were not originally included in the scheme but added at a later stage.
The tunnel was refurbished between 2010 and 2011 and now houses a leaky feeder system so that mobile phones operate within it.