Construction of the river bus pier at Barking Riverside is set to begin.

The pier, which is expected to open to the public in spring next year, will the newest stop on the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers service, which currently has 23 locations.

The service will create a new link to Woolwich in just six minutes and upstream to Greenwich and Canary Wharf within 20 and 35 minutes, respectively.

Barking Riverside Limited (BRL) infrastructure director Louis Chau said: “Activating the river, undoubtedly one of the site’s biggest assets, is key to our offer.

“Construction of the pier commencing marks a major infrastructure milestone as we continue to unlock the site, and this running in parallel with the completion of the Overground station means Barking Riverside will be firmly on the map in the next year.”

The £7.3M contract to build the Barking Riverside pier has been awarded to McLaughlin and Harvey Ltd.

Access work will start on site in August followed by piling in October.

The pontoon, along with the canting brow, will be fabricated by Netherlands-based shipyard construction company Ravestein BV and is expected to be transported and installed early next year.

Set on a tidal area of the Thames, the canting brow will be 63 metres - one of the longest on the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers network.

Concept designs for the pier were created by specialist marine engineers Beckett Rankine - the designers behind a similar river bus pier at Royal Wharf, which opened in 2019 - and Anthony Carlile Architects.

BRL says the construction milestone coincides with a wider acceleration in delivery at the site, with the building of homes and facilities ramping up.

“Through partnership working, we are proud to have brought this project forward in a relatively short space of time,” Mr Chau said.

“We have partnered with Uber Boat by Thames Clippers; Barking and Dagenham Council, who have also contributed funding for this project; McLaughlin and Harvey and other contractors to bring this project to fruition in just two years - from concept to the service commencing.”