Highways England is inviting tenders to build the longest road tunnel in Britain that sits at the heart of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing, the most ambitious road project for a generation.   

The Lower Thames Crossing will improve journeys by almost doubling road capacity across the Thames east of London with 23.01 km (14.3 miles) of new road featuring two 4.18 km (2.6 mile)-long tunnels. Works on the project could start in about 18 months and would provide a huge jobs boost to the UK infrastructure industry.   At 16 m wide, these tunnels will be some of the largest bored tunnels in the world.  They will also be the longest road tunnels in the UK.  

Highways England planning application was submitted on the 23/10/2020 and the Planning Inspectorate now has 28 days to review the application and decide whether to allow the application to proceed to examination.  A decision is expected from the Secretary of State for Transport in 2022, with construction expected to start later that year.  

About the Tunnels and Approaches package  

A bespoke NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) will be used for this package . 

The contract notice will be sent for publication in the European Journal on the 11/11/2020 with an anticipated publication date of 13/11/2020. Bidders will be asked to return a selection questionnaire before the end of the year. Three applicants will be shortlisted to move forward into the competitive dialogue stage, with the contract award anticipated in 2022. 

The tender process will be undertaken via Bravo (eSourcing platform) and Highways England ask that interested parties register here 

The details of the Bravo project to be used will be released in the tender notice. Click uk/91 for the tunnelbuilder archive and more detailed information. Visit https://highwaysengland.co.uk. 46/20.