Medway Tunnel
| Medway Tunnel | |||||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||||
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| From: | Strood | ||||
| To: | Chatham | ||||
| Location | |||||
| TQ759698 | |||||
| County | |||||
| Kent | |||||
| Highway Authority | |||||
| Medway | |||||
| Opening Date | |||||
| 12 June 1996 | |||||
| Cost | |||||
| £80 million | |||||
| Additional Information | |||||
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| On road(s) | |||||
| A289 | |||||
The Medway Tunnel is an immersed tube tunnel across the River Medway between Strood and Chatham Maritime. It carries the A289 and is one of only three river crossings in the Medway towns, the others being the M2 motorway and the A2 Rochester bridge.
History
It was phase 1 of the Medway Towns Northern Relief Road. The dual carriageway was opened on 12 June 1996 by Princess Anne. It was initially termed the "road to nowhere" since the Relief Road link roads either side had not been built. Phase 1 did give a clue.
The Rochester Bridge Trust was granted the power to build and own the tunnel by the Medway Tunnel Act and the trust, in co-operation with the councils, was involved until the Freehold and all responsibilities passed to Medway Council in 2009.
Construction
It was the 2nd immersed tube tunnel built in UK (Conwy Tunnel was the first). The concrete tube section was 370m long, 23.9m wide, 9.15m high and linked to cut and cover tunnels on each bank of the River Medway. Total tunnel length was 725m.
Consultants were Mott MacDonald, contractors a joint venture of Tarmac Construction Ltd. and HBM Civil Engineering Ltd. Cost was £80 million.
Links
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