The Dartford Crossing joins Dartford and Thurrock across the River Thames. It effectively forms part of London's orbital M25 motorway, but technically, however, the M25 is not a complete circle: it ends shortly before the crossing on each side of the river. The crossing itself is the A282. Dartford is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. ... Thurrock is a unitary authority in England. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames... St. ... The M25 motorway looking south between junctions 14 and 15, near Heathrow Airport. ...

Since its opening in 1963, the crossing has been expanded several times to cope with increased traffic: 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

• First tunnel opened 1963
• Second tunnel opened 1980
• M25 access completed 1986
• Queen Elizabeth II Bridge opened 1991

Prior to the opening of the bridge in 1991, the crossing was usually referred to as the "Dartford Tunnel". Southbound traffic uses the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, a four-lane cable-stayed bridge designed by Sir William Halcrow & Partners Ltd, while northbound traffic uses a pair of two-lane tunnels. Before the bridge was built, the two tunnels carried traffic in opposite directions (and still do on occasions when the bridge has to be closed due to high winds). The M25 motorway looking south between junctions 14 and 15, near Heathrow Airport. ... The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (A282) was built at Dartford to expand the Thames river crossing capacity between sections of the M25 motorway. ... A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more pillars, with cables supporting the roadbed. ...

Dartford is the town nearest the crossing on the south bank of the river. The area around the north bank of the crossing is called West Thurrock.

There are no footpath or cycle path either in the tunnels or on the bridge. Cyclists and pedestrians have a free shuttle service operated by the crossing's staff. Motorcycles cross at no charge, all other vehicles must pay a toll. Tolls for both directions of travel are collected at toll plazas on the south side of the crossing. A toll road, turnpike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a fee for use. ...

External links

• Dartford River Crossing website
• Map and aerial photo of Dartford Crossing from Multimap.com
• Other map and aerial photo sources
• Map of the crossing (Source: streetmap.co.uk)

Multimap. ...

Length 346 km Elevation of the source 110 m Average discharge entering Oxford: 17. ... The Woolwich Ferry is a service across the River Thames linking Woolwich in the London Borough of Greenwich with North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham. ... The Woolwich foot tunnel is a tunnel crossing under the River Thames in east London from Woolwich in the London Borough of Greenwich to North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham. ... The Dartford Cable Tunnel is a new circa 3 metre diameter tunnel built upstream of the Dartford Crossing in 2003-2004 and designed to carry and allow for maintenance of 400kV national electrical grid cable beneath the Thames; it is accessible by foot as a crossing of the Thames, but... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Model showing the current redevelopment of the Kings Cross area with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link terminal behind the barrel-vaulted St Pancras Station on the left. ...