Fehmarn Belt project

The specialised vessel IVY is undergoing its final tests in these months, and preparations of the tunnel trench for the immersion of the first tunnel elements are underway. The contractor expects the immersion of the first tunnel element in the Fehmarnbelt to take place in spring 2026.

Preparations of the specialised vessel IVY, which will immerse the large tunnel elements and therefore plays a key role in the construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, are nearing completion. Approval of the vessel is almost two years later than originally planned.

In recent weeks, the first section of the tunnel trench has been prepared for immersion. The trench is being adjusted to the elements, and the contractor is adding gravel to create a level base for the tunnel elements, Sund & Bælt states in a press release.

15 elements cast
“We are in direct dialogue with the top management of the major contracting companies that are responsible for building the tunnel. Our focus is on resolving the current challenges and finding solutions that will create progress in the project,”says Mikkel Hemmingsen, CEO of Sund & Bælt, the client for the project.

So far, 15 elements have been cast at the factory, corresponding to the first 2.7 kilometres of the tunnel.
The contractor expects the first tunnel element to be immersed in spring 2026.

The delay to the immersion is of such a magnitude that opening the link in 2029 is no longer considered realistic. Sund & Bælt will prepare a new overall schedule for the entire project after the immersion of the first tunnel elements.

Project finances remain within the framework
The delay will also affect the project’s total construction costs.
Like the previous infrastructure projects – the Great Belt Fixed Link and the Öresund Link – the Fehmarnbelt project is user-financed and based on loans that are repaid from traffic revenues.

An expected delay and increase in costs will therefore only affect the project’s repayment period. The overall project can still be implemented as a user-financed facility. The combined repayment period for the tunnel and the Danish land works is expected to remain within the framework set out in the Construction Act, Sund & Bælt writes in the press release.

European eel, Atlantic cod, and porpoises—these are just some of the marine species living in the waters along the southern coast of Lolland with declining populations.

According to Sund & Bælt, the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel may actually improve conditions for marine wildlife and plant life.

The reason lies in the new breakwaters and rock structures along the coast, which are part of the Fehmarn project and are in short supply in Danish waters. These rock structures function as underwater reef-like habitats, offering shelter, breeding grounds, and hiding places for marine life.

A Accurate Picture of Biodiversity
Sund & Bælt is collaborating with the Danish consulting company DHI A/S, which has been collecting video footage and analyzing water samples near the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel construction site as part of a marine monitoring program.

To create an accurate picture of biodiversity in the area, DHI uses an advanced method to analyze DNA traces in seawater. This method, called eDNA, has the advantage of  being able to identify  which species inhabit the area from a single water sample.

This provides a more nuanced picture of marine life along the coast, as the method can detect species that are difficult to find through traditional monitoring—either because they rarely appear or exist in low numbers.

It is not only Sund & Bælt and DHI are not the only ones interested in the results. Students from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Roskilde University (RUC) are using the research findings to study eDNA, meaning that the collected data is already contributing to knowledge-sharing.

Expanding the Study
Sund & Bælt is now expanding the study to include a new coastal area where excavated material from the tunnel trench has been reused in a large land reclamation project.

Seven kilometers of coastline have been moved approximately 500 meters further out into the sea, and new stone embankments have been built. These structures create new marine habitats with the potential to boost biodiversity in the area.

The Think-Tank ”Hav” (Sea) sees this as an excellent opportunity to create habitats for a wide range of marine animals and plants close to the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel construction site.

“In Think-Tank ”Hav” we believe that the proposal to monitor habitat impacts during the expansion of the Fehmarn link is well-founded and highly recommendable in several ways. Effect monitoring is an obvious opportunity to gain insight into how biodiversity returns and adapts to new habitats created by human-made marine infrastructure projects,” says Søren Laurentius Nielsen, Scientific Program Manager at Hav, which focuses on increasing knowledge about Denmark’s marine environment.

Monitoring the Development
DHI and Sund & Bælt will closely monitor the development of these new habitats before and after the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel to determine whether the human-made coastal area contributes positively to the marine environment and blue biodiversity.

“We are very pleased with the preliminary results and look forward to continuing to monitor marine life. It is crucial to ensure that the Fehmarn project contributes positively to the marine environment and blue biodiversity,” says Lars Hansen, Project Manager at Sund & Bælt’s Environmental Team.

The results are expected to be available in Spring 2025 and will serve as a foundation for future monitoring efforts.

The Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs is ready to collaborate with local stakeholders to establish a large new business area on Lolland, in connection with the tunnel element factory in Rødbyhavn, which the Danish Parliament has decided can continue production after the completion of the Fehmarn project.

This was affirmed by Morten Bødskov, Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs during a visit to the Fehmarn project on November 11th. The purpose of the visit was to discuss how to realize the area’s significant potential by establishing a business park on the land behind the tunnel element factory, an area that has already attracted national and international interest.

The Municipality of Lolland has been working on plans for a business area for some time, which, according to the municipality, could become a center for Denmark’s green transition.

Unique Opportunity for Local Jobs
The Fehmarn Belt Tunnel will, in the future, connect Denmark and Germany when it is completed, and the project simultaneously has the potential to form a strong foundation for future local business development and the opportunity to create new jobs, the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs states in a press release, and Minister of Business Morten Bødskov comments:

“When the Fehmarn Tunnel is completed, it could become a real game-changer for the local business community, both in Rødby and beyond. It’s a unique opportunity to create new local jobs, and we must do everything we can to seize it. The race for the jobs of the future is already on, and if we do not stay alert, we risk watching tomorrow's jobs pass Denmark by. That’s why we simply cannot afford to stand idle when we have the opportunity to create favourable conditions for businesses here on Lolland and why, I am very pleased that the Lolland Municipality is working on a new business park in the area.”

Lolland as a Dynamic Growth Center
In relation to with the meeting between the MinistryIndustry, Business and Financial Affairs, the municipality, and other stakeholders, Mayor Holger Schou Rasmussen states:

“The Fehmarn connection is a historic opportunity that is already in the process of transforming Lolland into a dynamic growth center. It is creating thousands of jobs and will, in the future, attract even more companies, which will strengthen both our local and regional economy. At the same time, the connection will improve our accessibility to the rest of Europe, making Lolland more attractive for both tourism and business. In this context, we are working to develop a new business park close to the motorway and the upcoming tunnel, which will create optimal conditions for new businesses. All this is happening while we preserve and protect our unique nature and environment.”

A 21,000-ton concrete element has just emerged from the casting area at the tunnel factory near Rødbyhavn. The element is the first of a total of 10 special elements, which are key components in the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel, according to Femern A/S.

The element consists of two levels, with the lower level serving as a basement that will house the tunnel's extensive electrical installations. Above, on the "ground floor" of the element, are the separated tunnels for rail and road traffic.

In addition to the basement, the element is equipped with a lay-by in the motorway tunnel, where technical personnel can park without disrupting the rest of the traffic and easily access the basement. This allows for smoother operations and enhances the safety within the tunnel.

A Unique Solution
The use of special elements is the single largest innovation in the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel, which otherwise largely follows the model of the Øresund Tunnel.

“The special element is a unique solution that consolidates the tunnel’s technical installations into 10 hubs, rather than spreading them along the entire 18 kilometers of the tunnel. This reduces both the amount of concrete needed for casting and the excavation of the seabed. At the same time, the solution enables efficient traffic flow and provides safe access for staff who will maintain the tunnel,” says Jens Ole Kaslund, Technical Director at Femern A/S, project developer and subsidiary, of the Danish state-owned company Sund & Bælt.

Over a Year of Casting Process
The special element is 39 meters long and approximately 13 meters high, equivalent to a 4-story building. In addition to the 10 special elements, the tunnel contractor, Femern Link Contractors (FLC), will cast 79 so-called standard elements, each of which is 217 meters long and weighs 73,500 tons.

The special elements are cast almost like a house in three stages: first, the basement is cast, then the walls, and finally, the rooftop. The casting process for the first special element has been ongoing for just over a year, during which valuable experience has been gained for the work on the subsequent elements. Special element number two is already in the process of having its basement cast. These elements can be cast over a longer period since only 10 are needed, each placed approximately every two kilometers along the total 18 kilometers of the tunnel.

“We are very pleased that the casting of the first special element has been successfully completed. These days, we allow ourselves a moment of celebration, but we know that there is still a long way to go, and we have great respect for the complex work that still lies ahead,” says Nick Geurts, Division Manager at FLC, responsible for the production of the special elements.

Five Standard Elements Completed
On the tunnel factory's five other production lines, FLC has completed the first five standard elements and is working on the next ones in line.

The first special element is expected to be lowered into place off the Danish coast during 2025.

The construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel is the largest infrastructure project in Denmark's history and the largest construction site in Northern Europe. The 18-kilometer-long tunnel will be the longest immersed tunnel in the world. Once completed, it will be possible to cross the Fehmarn Belt in 7 minutes by train and 10 minutes by car.

Facts about the Special Element

• Number: 10
• Length: 39 meters
• Width: 47 meters
• Height: 13 meters
• Weight: 21,000 tons

The establishment of a new viewpoint - Pilen (The Arrow) - over the construction of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel was launched on 11^th January 24, with the groundbreaking ceremony by Mayor Holger Schou Rasmussen, Lolland Municipality and CEO Mikkel Hemmingsen, Sund & Bælt, Femern A/S announces.

Unique front row view
The Arrow will be located on reclaimed land a few hundred metres from where the first tunnel element will be sunk into place and where traffic will enter the tunnel in the future. This will give visitors to the area a unique front row view of the extensive tunnel construction.

An experience in itself
The Arrow will be a ramp that gradually rises 217 metre upwards, which is the same length as a tunnel element, ending in a head pointing towards Germany.

The highest point of the ramp will be 24 metres above the surrounding landscape.

From The Arrow, visitors will be able to follow the floating departure of the tunnel elements, as well as following the construction of the tunnel portal and the future road and railway connection into the countryside.

The project also includes a new ramp and access path from the nearby car park on Gl. Badevej in Rødbyhavn.

In addition to giving visitors a better view of the work on the 18-kilometre-long immersed tunnel, a visit to The Arrow will be an experience in itself.

Aarsleff A/S is the entrepreneur working on the establishment of The Arrow, that is expected to be open to visitors at the beginning of 2025.

The result of the many years of intense planning is now visible to anyone visiting the viewing platform on the dike at Rødbyhavn on southern Lolland. From here, the enormous construction site for the largest construction project in Danish history, the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, can be seen.
Drawings and calculations are now being transformed into giant excavation work and constructions in granite, steel and concrete.

Amazing progress
Both on Lolland and on the German side of the Fehmarn Belt, it is easy to see that the Fehmarn project is no longer just talk, but a reality, and that amazing progress has been made since the construction work started on the Danish side on January 1st 2020.
The picture above shows the schedule (prepared by Femern A/S) for the two contractor consortia; Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) and Femern Link Contractors (FLC), as well as the technical and mechanical installations and the railway section for the Fehmarn tunnel until its expected commission in 2029.

Harbours to be completed this year
Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) is responsible for the work harbour construction, excavation of the tunnel trench and establishment of the reclaimed land with new nature areas and beaches with the excavation material.
The port construction began in 2020 on the Danish side and in 2021 in Germany. All port facilities on both sides of the Fehmarn Belt are expected to be completed before the end of 2022.
Excavation of the 18 km long tunnel trench began in 2021 and is expected to continue to the end of 2024.

Tunnel factory, portals and village
Femern Link Contractors (FLC) is constructing the tunnel factory, where the 89 tunnel elements will be cast, as well as the construction of portals and ramps for the tunnel.
The construction of the tunnel factory's three production halls, with its six production lines, began in 2021 and will continue until the end of 2023. Already by the end of this year, the production of the first tunnel elements will begin and at the end of 2023 the first element will be lowered into its future location in the sunken frame. The production of tunnel elements will continue until the end of 2026.
The construction of the portals and ramps themselves will commence this year, and they are expected to be ready in the second half of 2025.
FLC is also responsible for the construction of the tunnel village that will serve as a home for up to 1,300 workers on the tunnel project.

Technical and mechanical installations
In addition to the construction work already carried out by the two contractor consortia and their more than 100 associated subcontractors, more tasks in the million-dollar range will soon be put to tender on the Fehmarn project; primarily technical and mechanical installations in the tunnel and the construction of a transformer station in Rødbyhavn.
Three consortia are competing for the task of technical installations in the tunnel, which includes ventilation, communication systems and signs.
The three consortia are:
•    BraVeCo (Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway)
•    Femern Technical Contractors (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland)
•    SICE-Cobra (Spain, USA, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia)
 

The winning consortium will be announced in the spring of this year.
 

At the end of 2022, it will be decided which of the following three consortia will be responsible for the construction of a transformer station at Rødbyhavn:
•    Bravida-Efacec-GE-Consortium
•    Elecnor
•    Siemens-Aarsleff
 

The installation work will start in 2023 and run until 2029.