Femern announced that the first two elements for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel have been moved from the dry dock into the large basins before the tunnel factory at Rødbyhavn, Denmark.
The update follows several weeks of extensive testing, involving water filling in the dry dock and the closure of the watertight gate in front of the factory.
According to Femern, a total of 89 elements will be produced for the project.
To date, seven standard elements and two special elements, designed for the basement of the tunnel’s technical equipment, have been cast.
The first elements will be prepared for immersion, which involves attaching two special pontoons to the ends of the element and adding more ballast concrete to weigh it down.
The remaining tunnel elements will be carried into the basins soon, where they will be kept until the main contractor, Femern Link Contractors (FLC) proceeds to final work.
Femern is Denmark’s state-owned company, dedicated to planning, building and operating the fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt between Denmark and Germany.
The project, dubbed Fehmarn Belt fixed link, or Fehmarnbelt tunnel, is an under-construction immersed tunnel that links the Danish Island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn.
Work harbours are developed at Puttgarden on Fehmarn and at Rødbyhavn on Lolland, from where building materials needed for the construction project are sailed out.
The project involves dredging an 18 km-long trench, from Denmark to Germany, where the tunnel elements will be immersed into and covered with gravel, sand and stone.
The surplus material from the dredging will be used to build new coastal areas near Rødbyhavn and to a limited extent on Fehmarn.
In April last year, the Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) consortium completed the digging of the trench after three years and removed around 15 million m3 of spoil from the seabed.
In June, Denmark’s King Frederik inaugurated the first tunnel element, which measures 217m and contains nine segments of 24m each.
The construction of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel is expected to be completed in 2029.
Once completed, the tunnel would become the world’s longest road and rail tunnel.
