The construction of the Denmark to Germany submerged Fehmarnbelt Tunnel
The world’s longest road and rail tunnel will require a factory that, in terms of its size, is set to be a record-breaker. The Fehmarnbelt immersed tunnel between Rødbyhavn in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany will be 18 km long and built from 79 concrete elements and an additional 10 special elements equipped with lower basements for maintenance. Each tunnel element will weigh more than 70,000 tonnes. Each element will be about 217 metre long and about 40 metre wide.
The factory is being built at Rødbyhavn, east of the existing ferry port. The factory area will total 1.5 million square metres – the size of 200 football fields – and will thus be one of the largest factories ever built in Denmark.
The tunnel factory and the many tunnel elements will be built by Femern Link Contractors (FLC), who have already been contracted by Femern A/S. FLC comprises VINCI Construction Grands Projets (France), Per Aarsleff A/S (Denmark), Wayss & Freytag (Germany), Max Bögl Stiftung & Co. (Germany), Soletanche Bachy International (France), CFE (Belgium), BAM Infra (Holland) and BAM International (Holland). The Danish company COWI is the contractor’s lead consultant, and the Belgian company Dredging International NV is a nominated subcontractor.
For the first time, FLC is publishing a video animation showing how they will build the tunnel elements. The technical video shows the entire production from the time the steel, stones, gravel and cement arrive at the working harbour to steel fixing, concrete casting, preparation – i.e. transporting the elements via one of the world’s largest dock facilities of its kind – and immersion.
The tunnel will be built indoors at a large factory to provide the best possible conditions for the high quality concrete, good working conditions for the workforce and a production that is independent of wind and weather.
