11 Facts About Dartford Crossing

Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing and until 1991 the Dartford Tunnel, is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, carrying the A282 road between Dartford in Kent in the south and Thurrock in Essex in the north.

Dartford Crossing's development started in the late 1930s, but was interrupted due to the Second World War and resumed in the 1950s.

Dartford Crossing has always been tolled, and though the cost of construction has since been paid back, the toll was retained, and rebranded as a congestion pricing scheme from 1 April 2003.

The Lower Thames Dartford Crossing is a proposed tunnel to the east between Shorne, Kent and South Ockendon, Essex.

The Dartford Crossing Tunnel Act 1930 authorised the construction of the tunnel, and set tolls to be charged for its use.

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The Dartford Crossing Tunnel Act 1967 gave a joint committee of Kent and Essex county councils the authority to increase the tolls, and in December 1977, the toll was raised from 25p to 35p for cars, 40p to 55p for two-axle goods vehicles, and 60p to 85p for HGVs By 1984, the toll for cars had risen to 60p.

Between September 1985 and December 1986, proposals for improvements to the Dartford Crossing underwent several changes, and in 1986, a Trafalgar House consortium won a bid to build a new bridge at Dartford crossing, valued at £86 million .

On 31 July 1988, a private finance initiative concession was enabled under the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988, which transferred control of the crossing from Kent and Essex county councils to Dartford River Crossing Limited, a private company managed by Rodney Jones.

The private company was at risk of not recuperating their costs, but ultimately the Dartford Crossing scheme demonstrated that the Ryrie Rules were no longer a barrier to the private financing of public infrastructure projects.

Section 27 of the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988 requires that this service be provided free of charge.

The Dartford Crossing is class C, which restricts transporting goods such as nitrates and flammable liquids.