New Medway Viaducts

Opened in the early 1960s, the M2 Medway Towns Bypass provided a new way to head to the Channel Ports and a new crossing over the Medway itself. At the time, the viaduct was a marvel of engineering, carrying four traffic lanes on the largest structure of its type in Europe, if not the world. It's also an example of the more sympathetic end of 1960s design, with its simple styling and smooth lines complementing its surroundings.

In 2001, work began to build two parallel viaducts, one for the widening work on the M2, designed to double its capacity to four lanes, and one to carry the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The two new structures were designed to match the profile of the existing viaduct, and today the three of them look very smart spanning the valley together. During the construction of the two new bridges and the renovation of the old one, Chris (no, not me) returned to the site several times to photograph the works.

Routes
M2

Picture credits

  • All photographs on this page appear courtesy of Chris.

With thanks to Mark Thorne for information on this page.

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