MV Aasvik docked at the work harbour, which has been built adjacent to the large tunnel factory where the elements for the world’s longest immersed tunnel will be produced. Included in the ship’s cargo was around 7,000 tonnes of granite aggregate from Norway, which will be used for access roads at the construction site.
The 500,000m2 work harbour is set to become one of the busiest in Denmark. It will play a key role in the construction as the tunnel elements will be shipped out from the port and it will receive millions of tonnes of building materials required at the construction site.
Delivering the materials directly to the factory will remove thousands of HGV journeys from the roads.
"It’s a real step forwards that we can now begin to use the work harbour. The harbour is absolutely crucial for the logistics behind the construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel. It will ensure a robust supply route directly to the factory and protect the local environment from heavy traffic,” said Jens Ole Kaslund, technical director at state-owned developer Femern.
When all six production lines at the tunnel factory are in operation, the harbour will receive up to 70,000 tonnes of building materials such as sand, gravel, cement and rebar per week. The harbour has both eastern and western docking facilities and is more than twice as large as the existing facilities in Rødbyhavnm, making it one of the largest harbours in Denmark.
At the tunnel factory a trial cast of part of a tunnel element is under way.
The Fehmarnbelt project, currently the largest construction project in northern Europe, will link Germany and Denmark via an 18km immersed tube tunnel beneath the Baltic Sea. It will consist of 79 217m-long hollow, reinforced concrete elements and 10 special elements.
Due to open in 2029, it will be the world’s longest immersed tube tunnel and the longest combined road and rail tunnel underwater.
