Work on Baltic Sea tunnel gets go-ahead
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The Danish parliament has approved the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, a planned 18km immersed tunnel which will reduce travel time between Denmark and Germany to just a few minutes
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Nine segments make up one tunnel element. Tunnel has 89 elements, each weighing over 70,000 tonnes

1 2 3 4 

217m
42m
40m

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HOW TUNNEL WILL BE CONSTRUCTED

1 Fabrication: Reinforced concrete segments cast and joined in factory near Rodbyhavn, Denmark
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2 Launching: Tunnel element fitted with watertight bulkheads and moved to dry dock. Dock flooded with seawater
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3 Transport: Tugs move element towards pre-dug trench on seabed
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4 Immersion
Pontoons attached. Water pumped into ballast tanks inside element. Suspension wires lower element to seabed
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5 Finishing
Elements joined with watertight seals. Trench filled in. Bulkheads removed, joints between elements completed
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DENMARK 
Lolland
(DENMARK)
Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link
Fehmarn Belt
Rodbyhavn
Fehmarn
(GERMANY)

15km 10 miles
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TUNNEL CROSS SECTION

Start date
Jan 2021
Completion
2029


Existing seabed
Trench
Two rail tubes
Service / escape tube
Two road tubes, each with two lanes plus emergency lane
Protection layer 
Sand
Locking fill (crushed rock / gravel)
Gravel bed
Re-established seabed
Finished tunnel
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Sources: Euronews, Femern A/S © GRAPHIC NEWS