Dartford crossing (Dart charge upgrade)

VGC supplied construction labour to Balfour Beatty for the civil engineering component of the Dartford crossing upgrade.

VGC supplied many categories of trades and labour to this project, including bricklayers, carpenters, steelfixers, general operatives, machine operators and traffic marshals.

New charging technology and gantries were installed to improve the traffic flow through the Dart charge system.

This involved considerable reconfiguration work. A total of 27 lanes have been replaced with four free-flow lanes in each direction. The old charging barriers and plazas have been removed, and a new traffic safety system has been installed on the approach to the tunnels.

The Dartford crossing spans the River Thames between Dartford and Thurrock, approximately 16 miles east of central London. It is a trunk road link (A282) in the M25 London orbital motorway. This route is an important part of the strategic road network and forms a gateway to the major ports on the Kent and Essex coasts. The crossing sees around 50 million vehicle crossings each year. This is far more than it was originally designed to carry, and prior to the upgrade, lead to regular congestion problems.