Europe is working on an ambitious underwater tunnel project, Fehmarnbelt, at the banks of the Baltic Sea, which will revolutionize European transport.
According to CnnThis project, which is set to connect Denmark and Germany with a two-lane highway and two electrified rail lines, all under one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
At 18 kilometers, Fehmarnbelt may not be not voting by the 50 -kilometer length of the channel tunnel between the UK and France, but it is ready to be the longest road and railway tunnel as well as the longest “submerged” tunnel in the world.
Unlike traditional tunnels excavated through solid country, Fehmarnbelt will use prefabricated concrete sections lowered into a ditch on the seabed, connected and buried.
Last month, the first prefabricated concrete tunnel sections, known as elements, left from the factory in Rødbyhavn in Denmark, which marked a significant milestone in the project set for completion in 2029.
With a staggering budget of 7.4 billion euros, this bet is monumental in scale.
Each tunnel element measures 217 meters long, 42 m wide and nine meters deep, weighing an impressive 73,000 ton, corresponding to 10 Eiffel towers.
The custom -built factory, the largest of its kind globally, spans 220 ha, equivalent to 300 football seats. Inside, three expansive building halls equipped with six production lines work tirelessly and produce a 217 meter element every nine weeks.
Each section is constructed around dense cages of reinforcing steel and consists of nine 24 meters long segments.
Denise Juchem, spokesman for Fehmarn A/S, the company that oversees the project, noted that although a date of immersion of the first element has not yet been confirmed, preparatory work is underway.
“This is a very complex and also very weather -dependent process. We are currently testing the very complex vessels that are specially built for our project.”
Meanwhile, the construction continues at the two tunnel portals at Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden.
Located only one stone throw away from the existing ferry ports, reduces the tunnel travel times and cuts the journey from 45 minutes by ferry to just 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train.
The train from Hamburg to Copenhagen, which takes five hours at the moment, will take half the time when the tunnel is opened.
“The Fehmarnbelt tunnel will be a game election for tourism in Denmark and the wider Scandinavian region,” said Mads Schreiner, International Market Director at VisitDenmark, told Cnn.
“By reducing travel time between Germany and Denmark’s significant reducing journey between Germany and Denmark, it will make our country more accessible than ever to visitors from Central Europe. We expect to see an increase in self -driven tourism, weekend city breaks and sustainable travel opportunities such as trains and cycling tourism.
“This new connection provides incredible opportunities for destinations in eastern Denmark, as more travelers will explore beyond Copenhagen.”
