Construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel, one of Europe’s most important infrastructure projects, began three years ago and is now ready to create a direct route between Germany and Denmark. To date, 19 tunnel segments have been cast.
Scheduled to open in 2029, the Fehmarnbelt tunnel initiative aims to facilitate travel between Hamburg and Copenhagen and eliminate the need for ferries. Currently, the quickest route between these two cities is via his two small ports, Puttgarden and Rodby, which are connected by a one-hour ferry.
Once the Germany-Denmark tunnel and its associated rail line are completed, travel time between Hamburg and Copenhagen will be reduced to 2 hours and 30 minutes, a reduction of 2 hours from the existing 4.5 hour rail journey. The Fehmarnbelt tunnel itself is expected to take just 7 minutes by train and 10 minutes by car.
casting segment
Building blocks for the Femmern Belt Tunnel are being cast at the Femmern construction site in Lodbyhavn, Lolland, Denmark. The tunnel segment is 217 meters long and is cast in nine segments. Since casting began six months ago, 19 segments have been cast, and two of the tunnel elements are “already large enough to outgrow the factory,” said Morten Kramer, head of communications at Femmern, who was in charge of the project. Nielsen explains. We are building and operating a fixed link between Denmark and Germany across the Fehmarnbelt.
“When we excavated the first tunnel segment last July, it was the culmination of months of preparation. It took four months to assemble the first reinforcing cage and push the completed segment into the drying hole.” adds Nielsen. The current goal is for him to produce a completed tunnel segment every 10 to 14 days when the plant is operating at maximum capacity.
“However, speed must not come at the expense of quality, so we are gradually scaling up to ensure that both technology and skilled concrete workers can keep up. We are currently working on the first tunnel. The seventh segment of the element is complete,” he continues. It is currently on its way to mold and the first completed tunnel element is expected to be completed by spring. ”
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