Danish government and Femern Link Contractors sign contracts Femernbelt Link covering the world’s longest immersed road and rail tunnel
The joint venture has won three contracts, two contracts covering construction of the immersed tunnel and the tunnel element factory that will manufacture the precast tunnel elements and a contract covering the building of the portal structures, toll buildings, bridges and ramps. The three contracts have a combined value of €3.4 billion (of which 25 per cent for BAM).
The joint venture comprises VINCI Construction Grands Projets, Per Aarsleff, Royal BAM Group (with its three operating companies BAM Infra, BAM International and Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau), Solétanche-Bachy International, CFE and Max Bögl Stiftung & Co.
The joint venture has appointed Dredging International (DEME Group) as subcontractor for the tunnel contracts and COWI as consultant for all three contracts.
The 18 km immersed tunnel connecting Denmark’s Lolland Falster region with Germany’s Schleswig Holstein region will be the world’s longest immersed road and rail tunnel. It will shorten the journey between the German and Danish coasts to just ten minutes by car and seven minutes by train compared to the current travel time of one hour by ferry or a 160 km detour via the Danish region of Jutland by car.
The Femernbelt tunnel project is one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects to date. It will foster trade and tourism in Northern Europe.
After signing of the contracts, the joint venture will start further design, planning and development of the integrated management system. Construction works are expected to start in January 2018 and are subject to permits of the German government. The construction of the Femernbelt link will take approximately 8.5 years.
