Europe is working on an ambitious underwater tunnel project, the Fehmarnbelt, on the banks of the Baltic Sea that will revolutionize European transport.
According CNNThis project was established to connect to Denmark and Germany with a two -lane road and two electrified rail lines, all under one of the most busy shipping lanes in the world.
18 kilometers, the Fehmarnbelt may not coincide with the length of 50 kilometers of the channel tunnel between Great Britain and France, but is about to be the longest road and rail tunnel, as well as the longest “immersed” “immersed” tunnel in the world.
Unlike the traditional tunnels that are excavated through solid lands, Fehmarnbelt will use prefabricated concrete sections, which are lowered in a trench in the seabed, join and bury.
Last month, the first prefabricated concrete tunnel sections, known as elements, started from the factory in Rødbyhavn in Denmark, marking a significant milestone in the project that is established for its completion in 2029.
With an amazing budget of 7.4 billion euros, this company is monumental in scale.
Each tunnel element measures 217 meters long, 42 m wide and nine meters deep, with an impressive weight of 73,000 tons, equivalent to 10 Eiffel towers.
The specially designed factory, the largest worldwide, covers 220 hectares, equivalent to 300 football releases. Inside, three expansive construction rooms equipped with six production lines work tirelessly, producing an element of 217 meters every nine weeks.
Each section is built around dense reinforcement steel cages and consists of nine segments 24 meters long.
Denise Juchem, spokesman for Femern A/O, the company that supervises the project, said that although a date for the immersion of the first element has not yet been confirmed, preparatory work is underway.
“This is a very complex process and also very close to the weather. We are currently testing highly complex ships that have been built especially for our project.”
Meanwhile, the construction continues in the two tunnel portals in Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden.
Located just a stone shot from the existing ferry ports, the tunnel will reduce travel times, reducing the trip from 45 minutes in ferry only 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train.
The Hamburg train to Copenhagen, which has been currently taking half of the time when the tunnel will open.
“The Fehmarnbelt tunnel will be a change of game for tourism in Denmark and the broader Scandinavian region,” said Mads Schreiner, director of the International Market of VisitdenMark, to CNN.
“By significantly reducing the travel time between Germany and Denmark, it will make our country more accessible than ever for visitors from Central Europe. We hope to see an increase in self -control tourism, the breaks of the weekend city and sustainable travel options such as train and tourism in cycling.
“This new connection presents incredible opportunities for destinations in East of Denmark, since more travelers will explore beyond Copenhagen.”
