Thursday’s Fehmarn Link Business Conference in Rødby was also the time to take status. Jens Ole Kaslund, who is the technical director of the state’s project developing company, Femern A/S, explained from the podium how things are going with the largest construction project in Danish history. And it’s actually going very well:
– We are a little behind with the tunnel gutter and a little ahead with the element factory, said Jens Ole Kaslund to the approximately 300 people present in Rødby Hallen.
Small deviations from the plan
However, the deviations from the original schedule, are so small that they fall below the statistical uncertainty. It is therefore still expected that the first tunnel element will be cast at the end of this year. And from that point, there will be something to look forward to.
To connect Lolland and Fehmarn, a total of 89 tunnel elements must be sunk into place, divided into 79 standard elements and ten special elements. The ten special elements have a basement for technical installations, and extra width for rescue and firefighting vehicles. They are therefore wider and taller than the standard elements, but also noticeably shorter.
Difficult logistics operation
This means that, on average, one element must be sunk into place every two weeks when that part of the project is reached. And when each standard element is almost 220 metres long, it becomes quite the logistics operation. This is because of the limited space outside the element factory in Rødbyhavn. But so far, the plan seems to be working.
The construction site of records
Jens Ole Kaslund also took the opportunity to brag a bit about the records. The Fehmarn tunnel will not only be the world’s longest immersed tunnel. But also the world’s longest combined rail and road tunnel. It requires a construction site of 1.5 million square metres, and it is Europe’s largest. Lolland has also become three square kilometres bigger in connection with the construction, as the coastline has moved 500 metres out into the Baltic Sea outside the construction site.
Denmark ahead of Germany
In addition to the figures and schedule, the technical director also made a status on the distribution between Denmark and Germany measured by participating companies. Denmark leads the competition, as there are 200 Danish companies involved in the Fehmarn project against a modest 25 German ones:
– Now something has to happen in Germany, said Jens Ole Kaslund.
