Around 30 zero-emissions machines are now working on the Lower Thames Crossing project, including 20-tonne excavators, rollers, tractors, telehandlers and hydrogen generators.
No diesel has been allowed on the project’s sites in Kent and Essex since work on the new road tunnel under the River Thames began in early 2026.
Instead, machines are running on battery, hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) and hydrogen.
British green-hydrogen firm GeoPura has set up a production facility at the Port of Tilbury. Work at the northern tunnel portal site is being completely powered by hydrogen.
Project owner National Highways said the zero-emissions fleet will grow to around 150 machines by peak construction in 2028.
The Construction Equipment Association predicted it would be one of the biggest deployments of zero-emission equipment for an infrastructure project anywhere in the world.
‘UK’s greenest ever road’
The crossing was designated a carbon pathfinder project to prove that low-carbon methods could be rolled out at scale.
National Highways said the approach has now been adopted on more than £30bn worth of projects planned by organisations including Sizewell C, Anglian Water and East West Rail.
Lower Thames Crossing chief executive Matt Palmer said the goal was to make it “the greenest road ever built in the UK”.
“By putting these zero-emissions machines to work, we’re showing that the construction industry can break its reliance on diesel and these innovative low-carbon approaches can become normal practice on projects across the UK,” he said.
Expected to open by the mid-2030s, the Lower Thames Crossing will tackle congestion at the Dartford Crossing and create an alternate route connecting south-east ports with the Midlands and the north.
The project was granted planning permission in March 2025. In November 2025, it was allocated the final tranche of public funding that allowed it to start work and seek private investment to complete construction and operate the new road.
