The largest tunnel in Europe has three parking parks

The construction empowerment works at the lower Times crossing, scheduled to become The largest tunnel in EuropeIt is scheduled to start in late 2025.

The tunnel, which is 2.6 miles length, below the Thames River, by national highways, after years of delay, carries a budget of about 9-10 billion pounds (about $ 12 to $ 14 billion) and aims to open roads in 2032.

Newsweek Contact the joint Bouygues-Murphy project that manages the tunnel construction for more information about the e-mail process.

Why do it matter

The lower Times crossing is the most ambitious road tunnel plan in the UK for decades, and it will greatly expand the connection between Kent and Acex. The three -seat highway tunnel will be 53 feet, wider in Europe. The project responds to chronic crowding at Dartford Crossing, which currently works as the only road tunnel across the Thames River East London.

What do you know

The arrangement of development approval was granted to cross the lower Times on March 25, 2025, after years of procedural delay.

The initial construction phase includes a great treatment for soil and the complex land preparation in the northern gate, where the construction of the launch structure of the boring tunnel machine (TBM) aims to start in the fall of 2026. The TBM launch was planned for the spring of 2028, aimed at completing the project and opening the road by 2032.

The central tunnel design consisting of three noticeable lanes to arrange unique UnderDeck systems. The tunnel will cross layers of multiple soils: a surface of historical and active landfills, including spoilers of London tunnel projects and aircraft aircraft, and a thick layer of overarching consisting of clay, clay and peat, and finally, a very variable layer.

Alan Price, coach of the Bouygues-Murphy project, described the region as “perhaps the worst geology that anyone can find in England, not to mention southern England.”

The boring tunnel machine will initially need to pass around about 300 meters of these uniform and polluted deposits before reaching the appropriate chalk for the effective tunnel.

What people say

Alan Price, coach, Bouygues Murphy JV, at the accumulation and ground engineering conference, April 2025: “We now have a project, which is just a state of speed through which we can reach the accelerator, really.

“The Earth is very soft in the grenade and the tunnel rings very large, and you will not actually stand up to the tabsia we got on the rings. It is not good enough. So, we have a huge campaign of mixing the cutting soil before we can start the tunnel.

“We would like to launch our tunnels in the beautiful dry chalk [on the south side] Above the water level, but the power supply was not already sufficient in North Kent to drive the tunnels. “

What happens after that

Pending the final approval, the empowerment work will start at the minimum Times crossing in late 2025. The main construction is scheduled to start on the TBM and other critical infrastructure in the fall 2026, with the start of the tunnel in the spring of 2028. The project aims to open the new highway crossing by 2032.