In 2022 UKCRIC Limited, UKCRIC’s commercial arm for higher technology readiness collaborative projects, was appointed by National Highways to undertake an independent expert review of the Lower Thames Crossing’s carbon forecast. Lower Thames Crossing continues to work with UKCRIC Limited as it refines the carbon calculator tool.
The Lower Thames Crossing is National Highways’s most ambitious project, designed to ease congestion on the Dartford Crossing and boost the economy by creating a new crossing that will connect Kent and Essex through a tunnel beneath the River Thames. The new crossing is being designed to be Britain’s greenest road and has been designated a Pathfinder project that will explore ways to be carbon neutral in construction. It is the first major UK infrastructure project to contain a legally binding carbon limit in its Development Consent Order, putting carbon reduction at the heart of its procurement process and creating a carbon reduction of around 50% from its baseline. It has now gone a step further and set a new target to reduce its construction carbon emissions by 70%.
National Highways developed a carbon calculator to inform decisions on carbon reduction based on “PAS2080:2016 Carbon Management in Infrastructure” standards. Significant reductions in emissions from National Highways’ 2020 baseline came from lower carbon designs and the use of lower carbon materials.
The original work carried out by the UKCRIC Limited team has helped inform further iterations of Lower Thames Crossing’s carbon calculator. UKCRIC Limited are now reviewing the third version, which now uses an innovative etool.
The assessment of the latest carbon calculator is being completed by UKCRIC Ltd via a collaborative project with three UKCRIC partner universities including University of Cambridge, University of Birmingham, and University College London.