The Lower Thames Crossing is a new road under the Thames with the longest road tunnels in the UK, and once it is built it is due to be sold to private investors. This page sets out what it is, where it stands, who is building it, and what the hiring around it looks like today, with live figures from the weekly careers sweep, the senior moves reported in the trade press and published contract notices.
Lower Thames Crossing
The programme, the people building it and the leadership seats it creates.
What the Lower Thames Crossing is
A new road east of London, about 14.5 miles long, running from the A2 and M2 in Kent, through Thurrock, to the M25 in Essex. It crosses the river in twin road tunnels of 2.6 miles, the longest road tunnels in the UK. Its purpose is to take pressure off the Dartford Crossing and make the road network across the estuary more resilient.
The client is National Highways, working closely with the Department for Transport: in December 2025 a Department for Transport official took over personal responsibility for the project. Development consent was granted on 25 March 2025.
Where it stands, November 2026
The contracts are let and the work has started. National Highways says the main works began in early 2026, and in July 2026 it ordered a 16.4m tunnel boring machine for the river crossing, with tunnelling due to begin in 2028. More than 30 zero-emission machines were at work by October 2026, with about 150 expected at the peak of construction in 2028. Completion is now expected in 2034.
The money is still being settled. In December 2025 ministers said the crossing would be sold entirely to private investors, most likely repaid through tolls under a regulated asset base model. That model needs new primary legislation, and the full business case is still to come. The government has committed £3.1bn to date, including £891m at the November 2025 Budget, which it described as the last tranche of public support before the private sector takes construction forward. A separate delivery company is being set up to become the regulated owner.
Built by contractors, owned by investors
Built by contractors, owned by investors The crossing is being built under contracts National Highways let in 2023, and is due to be sold to private investors.
That creates leadership seats on the owner's side as well as the builder's.
Who is building it
The tunnels. A joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Murphy holds the £1.34bn contract for the twin tunnels, their systems, the portal buildings and the approach roads, awarded in December 2023. It will buy and operate the tunnel boring machine.
North of the Thames. Balfour Beatty holds the £1.2bn contract for the roads north of the river, awarded in January 2023.
Kent. Skanska was chosen for the roads in Kent, a package of around £450m.
The live picture
Read on 1 November 2026 from three public sources: the careers pages behind the Senior Hiring Index, the appointments the trade press reports, and the contract notices government buyers publish.
Leadership roles open at the main contractors
16 leadership roles are advertised today across Balfour Beatty, Murphy and Skanska. These are firm-wide counts: each of these businesses runs other work, so not every seat below sits on the Lower Thames Crossing, but each is a seat in a business that is.
| Function | Open now | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Operations and delivery | 7 | Director General Manager, Painter Brothers; Head of Commissioning - England & Wales; Head of Commissioning - Scotland; Operations Director; Project Director |
| Commercial | 5 | Director of Procurement; Project Commercial Director |
| Other leadership | 2 | Area Director; Chief Engineer (Substation HV Plant) |
| Safety, quality and sustainability | 2 | Head of Health, Safety and Wellbeing; Head of Quality |
| Employer | Open now |
|---|---|
| Balfour Beatty | 13 |
| Murphy | 2 |
| Skanska | 1 |
National Highways and Bouygues Travaux Publics are not on the careers sweep yet, so their openings are not counted here.
Senior moves, last six months
Director and board-level appointments into or out of the programme's client body and main firms, as reported in the trade press. Each links to the article.
- Christopher Davies, 26 October 2026: National Highways appoints head of stakeholder engagement. Highways Magazine
- Emma Loxton, 2 September 2026: Balfour Beatty appoints McKinsey partner as strategy chief. Construction News
- Rachel Addison, 9 July 2026: National Highways Chair Joins Wates Board as Non-Executive Director. Safer Highways
- Ed Egerton, 3 July 2026: Balfour Beatty appoints chief legal and commercial officer. facilitiesmanagement-now.com
- Angus Murray, 30 June 2026: New boss to lead Balfour major projects arm. Construction Enquirer
- Martin Stanley, 17 June 2026: Bachy creates technical director role as ex-Skanska boss joins. Construction Enquirer
Contract awards, last twelve months
No contract award naming the Lower Thames Crossing has been published on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder in the last twelve months. Much of the programme's spend is let through its own contractors and supply chain, which does not always reach the public notices.
The leadership seats it creates
Client side. National Highways and the Department for Transport need programme, commercial and assurance leadership for a scheme that is being built while its funding model is still being legislated for.
The owner. The company being set up to own the crossing under private finance will need a leadership team of its own: finance, regulation, commercial, and in time operations and maintenance alongside the Dartford Crossing. The leaders who fill them are as likely to come from regulated utilities or private infrastructure as from highways.
The contractors. Each of the three main works contracts needs a project director, construction directors for each section, and commercial leaders, with the tunnel joint venture building a team around the boring machine ahead of 2028.
How a search for this programme runs
The leaders who have delivered a major road tunnel, or a highways scheme of this size, are a short list, and most of them sit with the client or one of the three main works contractors. A retained search maps all of them, approaches the people who are not looking, and assesses them properly before a shortlist is put in front of anyone. The process is set out stage by stage on the method page.
What this means if you are weighing a move
If you have delivered a major tunnel or a large highways scheme, there are few schemes of this kind in the country, and the peak of this one is still two years away. The tunnel seats in particular will be filled well before tunnelling starts in 2028, and the earlier you join, the more of the programme you shape.
If your background is in regulated assets or private infrastructure, look at the owner. A regulated asset base for a road needs new legislation, and the people who set that company up will have a record very few others have.
What this means if you are hiring
The pool of leaders who have run a major road tunnel in the UK is very small, and the three contractors and the client are all drawing on it. Most of them are in post and not looking. I would plan the senior appointments for each phase a year or more ahead, and look abroad and to other tunnelling programmes for the leaders the UK has not yet produced.
On the client side, the brief is harder than it looks. A leader for a scheme whose ownership is still being decided needs to be comfortable with that uncertainty, and able to explain the programme to investors as well as to government.
01What is the Lower Thames Crossing?
A new road east of London, about 14.5 miles long, from the A2 and M2 in Kent to the M25 in Essex, with twin road tunnels of 2.6 miles under the Thames, the longest in the UK. National Highways is the client, and the crossing is meant to relieve the Dartford Crossing.
02Has the Lower Thames Crossing been approved and funded?
Development consent was granted on 25 March 2025. In December 2025 ministers said the crossing would be sold entirely to private investors, most likely repaid through tolls under a regulated asset base model, which needs new legislation. The government has committed £3.1bn to date, and the full business case is still to come.
03Who are the main contractors on the Lower Thames Crossing?
A joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Murphy for the tunnels and their approaches, Balfour Beatty for the roads north of the Thames, and Skanska for the roads in Kent. The tunnels contract was awarded in December 2023 and the roads north of the Thames in January 2023.
04What leadership roles does the Lower Thames Crossing create?
At National Highways, programme, commercial and assurance leadership for one of its largest schemes. In the contractors, project, construction and commercial directors for the tunnels and each roads section. And a leadership team for the company being set up to own and run the crossing under private finance.
05Where do the live figures on this page come from?
The leadership roles come from the weekly careers-page sweep behind the Senior Hiring Index, which runs early every Monday, the moves from appointments reported in the trade press, and the awards from public notices on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. The page re-reads them every few hours, so it is never more than a few hours behind them.
Start a conversation
If you are hiring into the Lower Thames Crossing, or weighing a seat on it, I would welcome the chance to talk. No hard sell, no obligation.
The wider picture is on the highways sector page and the Senior Hiring Index.
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