London’s transportation authority has moved into the early stage of procuring a planned $1.4-billion highway tunnel under the River Thames on the city’s east side. If all goes to plan, Transport for London will advertise the project next spring as a 30-year design-build-finance-operate contract, with a construction possibly in 2018.
The proposed 1-kilometer-long Silvertown crossing is set to head east from near the south portal of the existing Blackwall tunnel on Greenwich Peninsula and go under the river to the north bank near the Royal Docks. It is designed with twin 11.45-m-dia bores to be driven by tunnel boring machines.