Tenders advertised for £378m Thames Gateway bridge project

Transport for London (TfL) has advertised its £378m Thames Gateway bridge project, which will be procured under a PFI-style contract.

The bridge, located in east London, will connect Beckton on the north bank of the River Thames to Thamesmead in the south. The tolled crossing will be 4.8km long and will include a four-lane dual carriageway for general traffic between the A13/A406 junction in Beckton and the A2016 in Thamesmead.

The principal element of the bridge will be a 2.2km viaduct with a main span of 270m to 290m. The project will also require the construction of approach embankments, grade separated junctions and connecting slip-roads.

In addition to the four road lanes there will also be two dedicated lanes for public transport and on sections of the approach roads. This will allow for connections to public transport networks and possible future conversion to carry rail links such as trams or the Docklands Light Railway.

The bridge will be designed, built, operated and maintained by a private sector company in partnership with TfL. The PFI concession will run for up to 45 years.

Tfl rejected a lifting bridge on the grounds that it would cause frequent delays and a tunnel because it would be too expensive. The bridge cannot be too high or it will interfere with flight paths into London City Airport. It cannot be too low either, as ships need to have enough room to pass underneath. These factors ruled out a suspension bridge.