A legal challenge attempting to block construction of the £185M New Tyne Crossing has been thrown out. The judgement, in London’s High Court, means the ~Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority~ can go-ahead with procuring the second vehicle tunnel. A winner for the private-finance initiative deal chosen from the two consortia already selected by the authority – Balfour Beatty/Volker Stein, and French consortium, Bouygues – is expected to be announced in August. Bryan Atkinson, a resident of South Tyneside, who represented Friends of the Earth at the public inquiry in 2003, brought the challenge, but as an individual, over the construction waste plans.