The first tunnel element in the Fehmarn Belt will be submerged in the spring of 2026, and Sund & Bælt simultaneously states that it is no longer realistic to open the connection in 2029. According to the press release, preparations are now underway, both with the final tests of the special vessel IVY and with the preparation of the first part of the tunnel trench.
According to the press release, the special vessel IVY will undergo the final tests in the coming months. Sund & Bælt states that the approval of the vessel is almost two years behind the original schedule.
At the same time, work on the first part of the tunnel trench has begun. Here, the trench is being prepared by being adapted to the elements, and the contractor is filling it with gravel to create an even base for the tunnel elements.
The construction has been plagued by major disagreements between the main contractor Fehmarn Link Contractors and Femern A/S under Sund & Bælt. That part is still being worked on.
- We are in direct negotiations with the top management of the major contracting companies that are to build the tunnel. Our focus is to resolve the current challenges and find solutions that create progress in the project, says Mikkel Hemmingsen, CEO of Sund & Bælt.
So far, 15 elements have been cast at the factory in Rødbyhavn, corresponding to the first 2.7 kilometres of the tunnel.
Dispute over quality
The levelling work is taking place in a tunnel trench, which for several months has been one of the most controversial parts of the Femern project. The main contractor, Femern Link Contractors, has repeatedly refused to approve the trench, pointing to significant deviations in the first stretches off Lolland. According to the contractor's own measurements, the bottom is significantly below the planned level in many places, and only a very limited part meets the technical requirements that must be fulfilled before tunnel elements can be lowered.
The tunnel trench is the excavated corridor on the seabed where the 89 tunnel elements are to be placed one by one. For each section, there are fixed requirements for depth, smoothness, and load-bearing capacity, because the elements rest directly on a layer of chippings and gravel. If the bottom is too low or uneven, either extra material must be laid out or changes made to the construction of the foundation before an element can be lowered. Before the trench meets the requirements and is documented, responsibility cannot be transferred to the main contractor, and the lowering cannot begin.
Sund & Bælt writes that the delay will also affect the project's total construction cost, but that an expected delay and increased cost only affect the repayment period because the connection is user-financed. A new overall schedule will, according to the press release, be prepared when the first tunnel elements are lowered.
According to the original schedules, it will take 36 months to lower the tunnel elements, after which two years are allocated for preparation and testing.
