Medway Tunnel

Tunnel linking Strood with Chatham in Kent, England

51°24′01″N 0°31′36″E / 51.400357°N 0.526721°E / 51.400357; 0.526721StatusactiveRoute

A289 connecting Strood with Chatham in Kent, under the River Medway, in the UKCrossesRiver MedwayOperationConstructedMay 1992 – June 1996Opened22 June 1996; 27 years ago (1996-06-22)OperatorMedway CouncilTrafficvehicleCharacterpublicTollnone (free)TechnicalLength2,360 ft (720 m)No. of lanes2 (each way)Operating speed50 miles per hour (80 km/h)

The Medway Tunnel is a tunnel under the River Medway linking Strood with Chatham in Kent, England. It forms part of the A289 Medway Towns Northern Relief Road. The Medway Tunnel is the first immersed tube tunnel to be built in England and only the second of this type in the UK, the other at Conwy, North Wales.^[1]

History

Proposal and construction

The Rochester Bridge had been the lowest river crossing of the River Medway for centuries, and despite expansion in the 1970s was very congested. In the late 1980s, the Medway Tunnel was proposed downstream of the Bridge to relieve congestion on the bridge, to allow greater access to the Medway Towns and assist with redevelopment of Chatham Dockyard.^[2]

The Medway Tunnel Bill - promoted by the Rochester Bridge Trust - was submitted to Parliament in 1988. In 1990 the Medway Tunnel Act was passed granting the Rochester Bridge Trust the power to build and own the tunnel.^[3]

The £80m project was carried out by an HBM Civil Engineering / Tarmac Construction joint venture, and started in May 1992.^[3] The tunnel itself was constructed in three distinct sections. The central part of the tunnel is the 370 metres (1,210 ft) of immersed tube, which is linked to cut and cover tunnels on both the Strood and Chatham banks of the river,^[1] with a total tunnel length of 720 metres (2,360 ft).^[4]

As part of the construction project, 800m of new dual carriageway and a new junction was built to connect the new tunnel to the existing road network.^[4] Separate from the project, various bypasses and link roads were constructed to provide access to the local area - the A289 Medway Northern Relief Road.^[2]

The Medway Tunnel was officially opened by the Princess Royal on 12 June 1996.^[3]^[5] In 1996, it won an award from the UK's Concrete Society.^[4]

Running costs

In 2008 negotiations were completed by Medway Council which purchased the freehold of the tunnel from the Trust for £1 with a £3.6m contribution on future costs.^[3]^[6]

Operation

As of March 2023, the tunnel is used by around 40,000 vehicles per day.^[7]

Cyclists are currently not allowed to travel through the tunnel which is not part of the local cycle network.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b "Medway Tunnel". medway.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Medway Tunnel". The Rochester Bridge Trust. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Rochester Bridge Trust". Archived from the original on 16 November 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Medway Tunnel, UK's second immersed tube tunnel". mottmac.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
^ "Classic pictures of Kent in the 1990s". Kent Online. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
^ "Medway Tunnel Transfer Notice - The Rochester Bridge Trust". The Rochester Bridge Trust. 18 June 2009.
^ "UK & Eire Road Tunnel Directory". Road Tunnel Association. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
^ "Medway's Cycling Action Plan 2016/18". Medway Council. p. 18. Retrieved 4 July 2019.