Sund & Bælt acknowledges that the tunnel trench requires more adjustment than initially anticipated, but maintains that the ambition is still a first submersion in 2025. Press officer Jens Villemoes highlights that the contractors can compensate for the areas where the trench has been dug deeper than planned, and that the process therefore still follows the plan.
FemernBusiness has asked when the tunnel trench can be handed over to the contractor, and when Sund & Bælt/Femern A/S first became aware of the problems.
Sund & Bælt does not directly answer these questions. Instead, Jens Villemoes states that the contractor consortium Femern Link Contractors (FLC) has had access to the trench since 1 July 2024 on the Danish side and 1 November 2024 on the German side. Subsequent geotechnical investigations have shown that parts of the trench have been dug slightly deeper than planned.
- The contractors can compensate for this by making the layer of chippings under the tunnel elements slightly thicker, says Jens Villemoes.
Need for greater adjustment
He emphasises that the contractors have always had to adjust the trench prior to submersion.
- The process is as expected, though with a greater need for adjustment of the tunnel trench than initially anticipated, says Jens Villemoes.
At the same time, he points out that the specially built vessel Ivy has not yet been approved by the Danish Maritime Authority. Ivy is a prototype built specifically for the project, and the preparation has taken longer than expected.
- Naturally, it is not possible to submerge tunnel elements before this vessel is tested and approved, says Jens Villemoes.
- The ambition remains unchanged, that the submersion will take place later this year. The timing is fraught with great uncertainty due to the high complexity of the process, where neither we nor our contractor will compromise on safety.
Jens Villemoes adds that the status report is a proposal from the contractors and part of the contractual dialogue - and that the company therefore does not wish to go into further details.
