For 24 million kroner, one can own a 108-hectare agricultural property on West Funen with about 97 hectares of fields and a production of 8,800 slaughter pigs per year. If farming isn’t appealing, the same amount could fund the Femern project for one day.
24 million kroner a day
In 2023, the Danish state’s construction company, Femern A/S, incurred expenses totaling 8.8 billion kroner on the Femern project, according to the company’s annual report. This corresponds to just over 24 million kroner per day. Thus, it’s quite fitting to say that the tunnel project costs a farm – per day.
The vast majority of the money is spent on paying contractors for daily project work – Femern A/S itself spent “only” about 500 million on salaries, rent, IT, and other expenses.
Project progress
According to the annual report, the project has really picked up pace this past year. In January 2023, the first reinforcement work began at the element factory. Today, the first standard element is finished and will be installed at the tunnel portal in Rødbyhavn after the summer holiday.
The two work harbors in Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden have also really come up to speed. 850,000 tons of materials have arrived at the tunnel project over the year – the vast majority in Rødbyhavn. If the same amount of goods had been delivered by truck, it would have meant 20,000 truckloads on the roads. This corresponds to just over two truckloads per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
2024 will be more expensive
The annual report indicates that Femern A/S expects to be even busier at the payment counter in 2024. The construction company thus budgets activities at a total cost of 11.6 billion kroner for the current year, which would more than cover a 114-hectare cattle farm – every day in 2024.
The schedule is challenged
But even though the Femern project has gained speed and seems to be in a reasonable swing, the construction company is not entirely convinced that it is moving fast enough.
“Overall, the goal is to open the tunnel in 2029, but the timeline is currently challenged,” states the annual report from Femern A/S.
For now, the project is delayed by a couple of months, among other things due to problems with the design of the “lid” for the tunnel portal in Rødbyhavn.
