Lower Thames Crossing touts zero-emission construction fleet while funding gap remains

National Highways says the Lower Thames Crossing is on track to become the UK's first carbon neutral major infrastructure project. The project has put over 30 zero-emissions machines to work across Kent and Essex, with plans to grow that fleet to around 150 by peak construction in 2028. Diesel has been banned on site since 2025, and the northern tunnel portal is being powered by hydrogen from a GeoPura facility at the Port of Tilbury. The claims come with caveats. The project still faces an estimated 8 to 9 billion pound funding shortfall, and the article notes that construction is wiping out acres of arable land and green belt. National Highways says the road will open in the early to mid-2030s, but the gap between the green rhetoric and the project's actual footprint, including concrete, steel, and haulage, is worth watching.