PERI has started delivering the special molds that will be used to cast the 79 standard tunnel elements that will become the Fehmarn Tunnel. FLC is currently assembling and assembling the molds on the five production lines with the help of technical consultants from PERI.
Comprehensive development process
The special molds to be used to cast the tunnel elements for the Fehmarn link are the preliminary culmination of several years of development. Because although PERI has previously delivered for the same type of projects, the massive task still required an extensive development process for the experienced formwork supplier.
– We are incredibly happy to be among the selected suppliers for the largest construction project in Danish history, but it has also been a long process, where our technical team in collaboration with FLC A/S has worked hard to come up with the best and most efficient design. We are all looking forward to seeing the forms in action, says Henrik Søgård Olsen, managing director at PERI Denmark, in a press release.
Five million tons
The tunnel is built from 79 standard concrete elements, each 217 meters long and weighing a whopping 73,000 tons, and 10 special elements that are just under 40 meters long. PERI supplies the molds for the standard elements. More than five million tonnes of tunnel elements must therefore be used to build the connection. Each of the 79 elements is composed of nine smaller segments, and each segment is one casting in one mold – and five of them are established.
12 years accrual
The development process alone has been underway for many years. As early as 2010, PERI was contacted by Femern A/S with a view to coming up with ideas and proposals for optimization of the formwork process from the Øresund Tunnel, for which PERI was a supplier back in the 90s.
– The two projects resemble each other because an immersion tunnel was also established at the Øresund Tunnel, which at the time was one of the largest in the world in terms of volume. But it’s been quite a few years since. So it was obvious for us to say yes to further developing the forms and process for FLC, says Henrik Søgård Olsen.
Seven years later, the new design is finally complete. In the period from 2015 until the start of the Fehmarn project, PERI and FLC, which is responsible for building the Fehmarn connection, have worked together to optimize the forms.
