The continued success of Thames river freight has kept more than half a million lorry trips off London’s roads over the last two years.

“Every 20 tonnes of cargo moved by boat keeps a lorry off the capital’s busy roads. So with over ten million tonnes of materials moved in the last two years that’s half a million lorry trips saved,” explains PLA director of planning and environment James Trimmer.

The booming construction market in London for homes, businesses and transport schemes, is behind sustained high volumes of Thames river freight. Sand, gravel and other building materials are easily shifted by river to wharves along the Thames. And the river has been key in moving from major tunnelling projects like Crossrail out of the capital.

Thames Shipping runs ships from Denton, Gravesend to wharves in east and west London. Their 2014 statistics, revealed in the following tweet, tell a simple story of lorries kept off London roads: