Dartford – Thurrock maintenance

Latest updates

• 30 November 2023

  Planned works for the remainder of 2023

  Following a pause in our work to help improve journeys for freight partners during a busy Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, our overnight works are due to resume.

  We’ll start back in the west bore tunnel during weeknights and Saturday nights, between Saturday 2 December and Monday 18 December 2023.

  We’ll be working to replace some of the older electrical cables during the week, and carrying out routine safety checks and maintenance on Saturday nights to keep journeys safe and reliable.

  An overnight closure of the east bore tunnel will then be in place on Sunday nights to allow for routine safety checks and tunnel maintenance.

  We'll then pause our planned works between Monday 18 December and the New Year to help keep journeys moving over the festive period. Our overnight work in the west bore tunnel is scheduled to resume from Tuesday 2 January 2024.

  Head down to the 'upcoming closures' section for further details on our closures over the next two weeks.

• 22 November 2023

  Upcoming closures and works pause for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

  As well as serving more than 100,000 customer journeys each day, the Dartford Crossing plays an important role in keeping goods and services moving across the country, linking key distribution centre's and ports in the south east and further afield. We’re standing down our work over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, to help smooth journeys for our freight and transportation partners during this busier period.

  Our work in both tunnels and on the QEII bridge will be lifted between Sunday 26 November and Friday 1 December. Until then, we'll continue our maintenance and repair work in the west tunnel overnight.

  We’ll also be carrying out routine safety inspections and bridge maintenance on the QEII Bridge this weekend.
  To keep our teams and road users safe, the QEII Bridge is scheduled to close from 10pm on Saturday 25 November until 5am on Sunday 26 November 2023. We'll also be using the closure to carry out some additional resurfacing work within lanes 1, 2 and 3 to help keep journeys safe.

  Please head down to the 'upcoming closures' section of this page for more information on these planned closures, including diversion routes.

• 26 October 2023

  Tunnel maintenance and planned QEII bridge closure

  We’re continuing with our tunnel maintenance work which is expected to last until the end of the year.

  We’re carrying out routine repairs to various components such as the steelwork, drainage and electrical equipment to keep journeys safe and reliable.

  Our next full closure of the QEII bridge is planned between 10pm on Saturday 25 and 5am on Sunday 26 November 2023.

  Please see below full closure information below.

• 18 October 2023

  Changes to planned overnight closures

  We’ve decided to postpone our planned waterproofing and resurfacing work around the Dartford Crossing until Spring next year when the weather conditions are better.

  There have been some changes to the extended closures we had planned for this month.

  We will no longer need to close the east tunnel through to the M25 northbound carriageway (junction 31 to 30) on Saturday 21 and Saturday 28 October 2023.

  Instead, we will be closing the west tunnel to continue with our routine safety inspections and maintenance work.

  Please see full closure information below

• 12 October 2023

  West tunnel closures and planned QEII bridge closure

  We’re continuing our weeknight maintenance work in the west tunnel which is expected to last until the end of the year. At the same time, we’re carrying out repairs to the steelwork, drainage and electrical equipment to help keep journeys safe and reliable.

  We’re also planning to close the QEII bridge between 10pm on Saturday 14 and 5am on Sunday 15 October 2023.

  This is for routine safety inspections and maintenance work.

  We’ll then do our weekly safety checks in the east tunnel from 10pm on Sunday 15 until 5am on Monday 16 October.

  Please see full closure information below

• 15 September 2023

  M25 junction 31 waterproofing and A282 bridge painting

  M25 junction 31 carriageway waterproofing

  We need to re-waterproof a section of the northbound M25 carriageway where it crosses above the Purfleet Interchange at junction 31.

  Because the new materials need extra time to set before we can reopen the road safely, we’ll do this work over extended closures on Saturday nights when traffic levels are at their lowest.

  Please see full closure information below

  Due to the location of this work, we’ll need to close the east tunnel and lane two through the west tunnel to safely divert traffic at M25 junction 31, where work will be taking place under a full closure of the northbound carriageway between junctions 31 and 30.

  A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the M25 junction 31 Purfleet Interchange and the dedicated northbound linking road to re-join the M25 at junction 30.

  A282 junction 1b bridge painting

  We’re also nearing the completion of our repainting work on the bridge which carries the A226 over the A282 between junctions 1a and 1b. This protects the steelwork from corrosion and increases the lifespan of the bridge.

  We’ll need to close the northbound carriageway between the M25 junction 2 and A282 junction 1a overnight to carry out this work safely from Monday 2 October for five nights.

  Please see full closure information below

  The west tunnel will remain open via the A282 junction 1a northbound entry slip road, however, due to the location of this work, overnight access to the east tunnel will be unavailable on these dates.