en.Wedoany.com Reported - The first of the 89 tunnel elements for Denmark's Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is being transported to the immersion site off the coast near Rødbyhavn on the Danish island of Lolland. The concrete tunnel element, measuring 217 meters long and weighing 73,500 tonnes, left the work harbor at the tunnel factory the previous evening at 9 p.m., traveling a distance of over 2 kilometers. In preparation for immersion, the Femern Link contractor added an additional 4,500 tonnes of ballast concrete to ensure the tunnel element is heavy enough to sink to the seabed.

The tunnel element contains four tubes, which will accommodate a motorway and a railway, plus a service tube for technical equipment. The tunnel element is being transported by five tugboats and a vessel specifically designed for immersing the elements. Both ends of the tunnel element are sealed and filled with air. Because the road traffic tubes are heavier than the railway tubes, temporary water tanks have been installed in the outer railway tubes to ensure the tunnel element remains level during the immersion process.

Lasse Vester, Deputy Contract Director at Sund & Bælt, stated: "This is a highly complex operation that has never been carried out on this scale before. The tunnel elements for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel are wider, heavier, and longer than those used to build the Øresund Link, and we will be working in deeper water."

The tunnel element will be placed in the 18-kilometer-long seabed trench running from Rødbyhavn to Puttgarden. Prior to immersion, a gravel bed has been laid in the tunnel trench to ensure the tunnel element is positioned correctly. Lasse Vester also stated: "This is a major task with almost no margin for error. We have to immerse a tunnel element the length of two football pitches to an accuracy of a few millimeters." The transport and immersion of the tunnel element are expected to take several days, after which rock and gravel will be placed on its sides to secure its position.

The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel connects Germany and Denmark. At 18 kilometers long, it is one of Europe's largest infrastructure projects. The tunnel includes a two-lane motorway in each direction and two electrified high-speed railway tracks, with a crossing time of 10 minutes for cars and 7 minutes for trains.

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