Engineers immerse first element of 18 km Fehmarn Belt tunnel between Germany and Denmark
Engineers immersed the first of 89 concrete elements of the 18 km Fehmarn Belt tunnel into the Baltic Sea off Denmark's Lolland coast earlier this month. The German-Danish rail and road link, set to open in 2031, will cut Hamburg-Copenhagen train travel from about five hours to t
Engineers working off the Danish island of Lolland have immersed the first of 89 concrete elements that will form the 18 km Fehmarn Belt tunnel under the Baltic Sea. The segment, 217 metres long and weighing about 73,000 tonnes, was lowered into a dredged trench between May 4 and 6 and connected to the Danish tunnel portal at Roedbyhavn. Operator Femern A/S says the immersion marks the start of the primary underwater assembly phase. The remaining 88 elements will be lowered one by one into the trench, which runs up to 40 metres below the sea surface. Once complete, the Fehmarn Belt fixed link will be the longest immersed tunnel in the world. It will carry a double-track electrified railway and a four-lane motorway between Puttgarden on Germany's Fehmarn island and Roedby on Lolland. Trains will cross the strait in seven minutes and cars in about ten. Rail travel between Hamburg and Copenhagen, currently roughly five hours, is set to fall to about two and a half hours. The project was originally scheduled to open in 2029. Femern revised the target in January to 2031 after construction delays.