Denmark and Germany are planning to build the world’s longest immersed tunnel, allowing rail and road traffic to cross the Fehmarnbelt in less than 10 minutes. Public hearings ended two weeks ahead of schedule in mid-July, bringing the project that much closer.
The €8-9bn link between Continental Europe and Scandinavia is expected to enter the construction phase in 2020. In Denmark all necessary decisions have been made. The environmental impact has been assessed. Funding is in place. In Germany the government will likely grant the project a building permit later this year. Various environmental organisations, however, may impede the process by lodging an appeal to the German Federal Administrative Court to block the decision. As a result construction on the fixed link is not expected to start until 2020.
Although disappointed by the delay, Femern A/S, a construction company owned by the Danish government, is pleased that construction of Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link is assured. Like a band of racehorses, the entire company is chomping at the bit but was encouraged when news reached the Copenhagen headquarters in mid-July that the public hearings in Germany had concluded two weeks ahead of schedule.
The construction application is a massive 14,000 pages, which is why a team of 50 German experts and professionals are available to answer questions from authorities, environmental organisations and the public.
The CEO of Femern A/S, Claus Baunkjær, is completely confident that the link will be finished within the next ten years: “The public hearings in Germany started on 22 May of this year and will end this summer. We’ve prepared ourselves thoroughly and we’re quite satisfied with the results.”
The Danish Ministry of Transportation, Building, and Housing expects German approval of the construction plans to be released in summer 2018, leaving two years for the German courts to handle complaints. In general, once the authorities give green approval of major construction projects, German environmental organisations tend to take legal steps. The courts, however, are in no way expected to put a stopper on construction.
In other words, at the most, court proceedings are expected to lead to some changes but a court order completely halting a well-documented application like the joint Danish-German fixed link project is unimaginable. The construction schedule already takes this into consideration, leaving extra time for subcontractors and suppliers to find each other.
Denmark is prepared
On the Danish side of Fehmarnbelt preparatory work has been carried out to build new access roads and infrastructure for the future construction site at Rødbyhavn, a small harbour town where one end of the new fixed link will be located. The new roads are wide enough to accommodate large vehicles and tunnels serve to protect endangered toads.
The preparations also include new bike paths, the power supply, access roads, small bridges and a new pumping station for drainage of low-lying areas. The sewer system and water supply have also been upgraded. Newly established waterholes and natural areas will compensate for the loss of existing ones due to construction and archaeological investigations.
When construction begins, a new harbour and cement plant will be established, allowing construction of the fixed link to begin immediately once Denmark and Germany give the final go ahead.
In Denmark work is well under way on the new railway connecting Copenhagen to Fehmarnbelt via Ringsted. Much of the double-track line is already complete, with the remainder expected to be ready for test driving next year.
Simultaneously, the network of highways connecting the capital to Fehmarnbelt is being modernised. When new and renovated railway bridges are included, this means that more than 100 bridges and crossings have been rebuilt or overhauled to handle the expected raise in rail and road transport.
Conditional contracts signed
In May 2016 Femeren A/S signed four important contracts on major aspects of the construction project. The contracts are conditional, which means that work will be postponed until the German construction permit is in place. The contracts are valid until the end of 2019, with the option to renegotiate at that time.
Multiple minor contracts in the Fehmarnbelt project, as yet unpublished, cover electrical and mechanical installations, the railway, landscaping and the toll plaza to be built in Denmark.
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