£1bn pledged for UK bridge and tunnel upgrades

The Chancellor has unveiled a £1 billion investment to upgrade crumbling bridges, flyovers and tunnels across Britain—alongside £590 million to restart progress on the Lower Thames Crossing. The announcement forms part of a wider 10-year infrastructure strategy aimed at improving connectivity and boosting the construction sector.

Britain’s decaying road infrastructure is set for a major overhaul, following the launch of a new £1 billion Structures Fund designed to repair and futureproof thousands of bridges, tunnels and flyovers across the country. The investment, announced on 16 June by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, comes alongside a further £590 million to advance the long-delayed Lower Thames Crossing scheme.

According to the Treasury, around 3,000 bridges in Great Britain are currently unable to support the heaviest vehicles—posing significant challenges for freight and agricultural transport and increasing the risk of costly delays. The number of bridge collapses has also been rising, underlining the need for urgent intervention.

The newly announced Structures Fund will provide targeted investment to improve the resilience and safety of road infrastructure while reducing the risk of unplanned closures. The fund will also focus on ensuring transport assets are better prepared for extreme weather and the long-term demands of modern logistics.

“This is a turning point for our national infrastructure,” said Chancellor Rachel Reeves. “We’re going all in to fix broken bridges, crossings and tunnels so they can serve working people for decades to come.”

The commitment is part of the government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, due to be published later this week. The strategy will lay out priorities for capital investment across Britain’s transport network and follows a record £15.6 billion pledge for city-region transit projects made at the Spending Review.

Also confirmed was a long-awaited push to deliver the Lower Thames Crossing—a key new road link under the Thames east of London. Described as the UK’s most significant road-building project in a generation, the crossing aims to relieve congestion at the Dartford Crossing and better connect the Midlands and North to southern ports.

The government said it would explore private sector involvement to deliver the project, which has remained stalled in planning for several years.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the renewed commitment to the crossing would deliver “critical resilience” for freight and trade. “This project has been stuck in planning limbo for far too long,” she added. “It is essential for economic growth and the smooth flow of goods between regions.”

Details of how the new funding will be distributed to local authorities and delivery bodies will be published in the coming months. The government says the funding is additional to existing highways maintenance allocations.