Dartford Crossing

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge redirects here, for other bridges of the same name, see Queen Elizabeth Bridge (disambiguation)

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

The Dartford Crossing joins Dartford and Thurrock across the River Thames. It effectively forms part of London's orbital M25 motorway. Technically, however, the M25 is not a complete circle: it ends shortly before the crossing on each side of the river. The crossing itself is the A282.

Since its opening in 1963, the crossing has been expanded several times to cope with increased traffic:

• First tunnel opened 1963
• Second tunnel opened 1980
• M25 access completed 1986
• Queen Elizabeth II Bridge opened 1991

Prior to the opening of the bridge in 1991, the crossing was usually referred to as the "Dartford Tunnel". Southbound traffic uses the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, a four-lane cable-stayed bridge designed by Sir William Halcrow & Partners Ltd, while northbound traffic uses a pair of two-lane tunnels. Before the bridge was built, the two tunnels carried traffic in opposite directions (and still do on occasions when the bridge has to be closed due to high winds).

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (A282) was built to expand crossing capacity between sections of the M25 motorway. The central span is 450 m long, is suspended 65 m above the Thames (to accommodate ocean-going cruise liners) and is thus sometimes closed due to high winds. It is a toll bridge and accommodates four lanes of southbound traffic from the M25. When closed due to high winds, one of the two adjacent tunnels is used instead.

When it was opened on the 30 October 1991, it was Europe's largest cable-supported bridge. The approach viaducts on the Essex side measure 1052 m, and 1008 m on the Kent side, giving the total length of 2872 m. It has an expected life span of 120 years.

When built, the Queen Elizabeth II bridge was only the second bridge on the River Thames east (downstream) of London Bridge constructed in over a thousand years, and it is currently the only bridge east of Tower Bridge (the Thames Gateway Bridge will be the second, when completed). The historic reason for this is that bridges prohibited tall ships and other large ships from reaching the Pool of London, which has led to the building of numerous tunnels instead.

The toll payable for using the bridge was supposed to end once the bridge had been paid for - which happened in 2003 - but the UK Government has chosen to continue the toll nonetheless - ostensibly on the grounds of safety (that removing the toll will increase traffic locally above the route's capacity).

Dartford is the town nearest the crossing on the south bank of the river. The area around the north bank of the crossing is called West Thurrock.

There are no footpaths or cyclepaths either in the tunnels or on the bridge. Cyclists and pedestrians have a free shuttle service operated by the crossing's staff. Motorcycles cross at no charge, all other vehicles must pay a toll. Tolls for both directions of travel are collected at toll gates on the south side of the crossing.

The bridge has been featured briefly in the British films Four Weddings and a Funeral and also in Essex Boys.

External links

• Dartford River Crossing website

• Map of the crossing (Source: streetmap.co.uk)
• BBC news item, 1 April 2003
• BBC news item, 2 December 2005
• BBC news item, 4 January 2006