Dartford Crossing to be closed for routine maintenance

The Dartford Crossing is being closed to carry out routine maintenance, National Highways has warned.  

The work includes sweeping, road deck checks, gully and drainage cleaning, lighting maintenance, and various inspections of the bridge structure to ensure everything remains safe and in good condition.

There are a series of partial closures this month (April) and in May to the Dartford Tunnel, while the QEII Bridge will be fully closed overnight this coming weekend.

The QEII Bridge will be closed for safety inspections and maintenance from 10pm on Saturday (April 26) to 5am on Sunday (April 27).   

A contraflow diversion route for soutbound traffic will run through the Dartford east tunnel from 9:30pm on Saturday (April 26).

A spokesperson for National Highways explained: “We carry out routine maintenance closures such as the one this Saturday night on the QEII Bridge on a six-weekly basis.”

The Dartford Crossing, also known as the A282, connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Europe. 

Carrying more than 50 million vehicles a year, the Dartford Crossing is designed to handle 135,000 vehicles a day, but the average is now 150,000 a day – with the busiest days seeing up to 180,000 vehicles using it.