The Queen Elizabeth II bridge at Dartford has played crucial role on the M25 motorway by connecting communities in Essex and Kent. It is at the Dartford Crossing, sometimes called the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing. The significance of this is that the bridge cuts the time for traffic from the North of England to France (and vice versa).
It was built at a cost of £120m and officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in October 1991. it was the first bridge to be built at a new location along the river Thames for more than 50 years. At the time time it was the longest single span bridge in Europe at over 2,872 metres long.