One should be cautious with the term “historical milestone” for a project like the Fehmarn Tunnel. But now it is indeed accurate: The project has reached a historical milestone. On Tuesday afternoon, Femern A/S was able to announce in a press release that the Dutch consortium Fehmarn Belt Contractors has finished the excavation of the 18-kilometer-long tunnel trench between Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden.
Half a year of finishing touches
The attentive FemernReport reader would surely object, as we already wrote this in September 2023. So, we asked Pedro da Silva Jørgensen, who is the technical vice director at Femern A/S, what has actually been happening during the past half year:
– Six months ago, the contractor (the Dutch consortium FBC, ed.) finished the rough excavation work. Since then, there has been some finishing touches. The rough work was done with large machines, where a single scoop could weigh 70 tons. The past half year, they have essentially been using sandpaper, tells Pedro da Silva Jørgensen, as we call to congratulate on the completion of the hole.
Large boulders and severe weather
The “sandpaper work” involved moving a lot of large boulders one by one, which the large machines could not be used for.
Moreover, the last half year has seen severe weather. The storm Pia in December 2023 was strong enough to be named, but the storm on October 20-21 was a “lesser” storm that was far harsher on the southern coast of Lolland, leading to breaches in dikes and flooding. And then in February 2024, the storm Rolf came by. Such wild weather events also move the sand at the seabed, where some of it ended up in the tunnel trench, which then had to be cleared.
Approved with an upward arrow
The work was finally completed at the end of March, and now the contractor, the Danish state represented by the contracting company Femern A/S, has approved the delivered work – and a bit more:
– We are very pleased that we chose the right contractor. They are some of the best in the market, and they delivered almost on time and within budget, says a very satisfied Pedro da Silva Jørgensen.
600 million Euro
The consortium Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC), consisting of the two Dutch companies Boskalis and Van Oord, won the contract for the excavation of the tunnel trench and land reclamation on Lolland with a bid of around 600 million Euro, equivalent to just under 4.5 billion kroner split evenly between the two.
Can go home in November
Although the main task – the excavation of the tunnel trench – is now over, there are still a few months until the Dutch can go home. The excavated seabed is currently “drying” on the southern coast of Lolland, where it needs to be turned occasionally. And the temporary dike at the tunnel portal in Rødbyhavn needs to be removed. This work is expected to be completed by July.
At Femern, the dike at the tunnel portal also needs to be removed, and here the work is a bit behind, so it is expected to be completed in November.
