Did You Know? M25, Grays Essex England
Did You Know?
Published: 22nd June 2010
The M25 has 33 junctions. There are 234 bridges over or under the motorway itself with 20 more built on other motorways and trunk roads.
The M25 had its 20th birthday on 29 October 2006.
For the road surface alone contractors used more than 2 million tonnes of concrete and 3.5 million tonnes of 'black top'. Some 500,000 yards of crash barrier guard its central reservation.
Its extensive landscaping has involved the planning of more than 2.1 million trees and shrubs.
Before the first spadeful of soil could be dug, the route had to go through public consultation and a series of Public Inquiries. In all, the route was subject to no fewer than 39 Public Inquiries lasting a total of more than 700 sitting days.
The inquiries led to major changes on the route, the doubling of the length of the tunnel at Epping Forest and the extensive use for cuttings to hide the road as it passed through an Area of Outstanding Beauty near Swanley and Sevenoaks.
The total cost of the motorway in 1986 was nearly £1,000 million. The European Community contributed £5.8 million in transport infrastructure grants.
The Ordanance Survey (OS) national mapping organisation provided the maps used to plan and design the M25.
www.highways.gov.uk
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