The Fehmarn project has entered the production phase. This means that the construction work in connection with the element factory and the earthworks in connection with the portal and ramps have largely been completed. At least finished enough for the tunnel factory in Rødbyhavn to go into production. Here, 79 standard elements and ten special elements will be produced, which together will make up the Fehmarnbelt tunnel.
Nine segments of 24 metres
A standard element is cast in segments of 24 meters in length, and nine segments go into one element. Once production is fully up to speed, the plan is for a standard element to be produced in around nine weeks. But we are not quite there yet.
First segment cast in double production time
The first element, cast in July, took between 50 and 52 hours to cast, which is roughly twice as long as planned. If everything goes according to plan, a segment must be cast in 27 hours if the tunnel is to be ready by 2029.
Incorrect concrete, gnarly communication and inexperienced workers
When casting the first segment, there were a few things that didn’t quite go according to plan. In part, there was a batch of concrete that was not mixed quite right. To make matters worse, there were also knots on the communication lines so that the misproduced concrete was not slowed down in time. In addition, the production teams were also put together incorrectly, so there were teams with a disproportionate number of inexperienced workers on the lines. FLC (Femern Link Contractors) told this at a networking event for supplier network FB Suppliers on Thursday.
Trial and error
However, it is far from a disaster that the first attempt was not quite up to the mark. FLC’s schedule has taken into account that the earliest production period is used to target the target, and the lessons learned are used to adjust the details. It is the process that in the teaching world is called trial and error.
Second attempt half a day faster
And the second segment also went considerably better than the first attempt. Here it took 38 hours to cast the 24 meter Fehmarn Belt tunnel. The expectation is that for each new segment approximately one hour will be shaved off the production time, until the 100-150 man production team can complete the task in the estimated 27 hours.
The third segment will be cast on Monday
On Monday, work on segment number three will begin, and I wonder if FLC will have their fingers crossed that it will be completed in 37 hours. And if the plan holds, then segment number 13 can be cast in 27 hours sometime during October or November.
