Lower Thames Crossing tunnelling 'to begin in 2028'

The tunnelling process for the Lower Thames Crossing is due to begin in 2028.

National Highways said negotiations to buy one of the world's largest tunnelling machines were now under way.

It would be capable of digging 60 metres below the Thames, creating a new road link between Essex and Kent.

Next summer, preparation work on the northern tunnel entrance where the tunnel machine will begin its journey will get under way.

Matt Palmer, the highways agency's executive director of the Lower Thames Crossing project, said the scheme was on track to be built "in the early 2030s".

The 16.4-metre-wide tunnel boring machine will excavate one of the widest tunnels in the world and it will create the longest road tunnel in the UK.

Roads and Buses Minister Simon Lightwood said: "The launch of the procurement process for one of Europe's largest tunnelling machines marks a major step forward for this transformational project."

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