Kent County Council has appointed Erith Contractors to deliver an £18m ($24.15m) tunnel scheme at Bean Road, forming a new public transport and active travel link between Whitecliffe and Bluewater.
The project, described as a civil infrastructure scheme, will create a Fastrack bus corridor alongside a shared route for pedestrians and cyclists.
The link will run beneath the A255 Bean Road near Bluewater and is intended to connect Whitecliffe, Bluewater and Ebbsfleet International railway station, forming part of the Ebbsfleet Garden City green corridor.
The programme involves constructing an underpass of around 75m in length through the chalk ridge under Bean Road.
The design includes a 3.5m-wide bi-directional Fastrack busway, together with a combined footway and cycleway.
The scheme will supersede two haulage tunnels that were installed in the 1990s to support earthworks during the building of Bluewater Shopping Centre.
Kent County Council plans to incorporate the existing tunnels into the new road and tunnel structure rather than remove them.
Erith Contractors, a family-owned and employee-owned business headquartered in Queen Street, Erith, was selected from a shortlist of five bidders that submitted tenders for the contract.
Planning consent for the tunnel was initially granted in June 2020, but that permission lapsed in June 2023.
A fresh planning application was lodged in August 2024, with approval subsequently granted in March 2025.
The overall budget for the Bean Road tunnel has risen significantly since it was first costed. In 2018, the total scheme was estimated at £13m; this has since increased to £25.5m, which the council attributes to post-coronavirus cost pressures and unexpected rises in material prices.
Principal construction activities are scheduled to get under way in early 2026, with the scheme currently expected to be finished in 2027.
