Fehmarnbelt Approval Ready for Signing

The Ministry of Transport of Schleswig-Holstein announced last week that the plan approval of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel is ready to be signed.

In accordance with German regulations, Femern A/S now has 14 days to review the approval before it is signed. During this process, only minor editorial changes may be made.

“I am delighted and proud that we have today reached this crucial milestone. This is the result of several years of cooperation between the parties involved in Denmark and Germany. The approval means that agreement has now been reached between the German authorities and Femern A/S on how to construct the tunnel,” commented Claus Dynesen, Project Director at Femern A/S.

The actual plan approval is a legal document of more than 1,000 pages. It is based on the 14,000-page application prepared by Femern A/S and LBV Lübeck in cooperation with German experts.

“The plan approval determines the requirements and conditions that must be met, especially in relation to the environment, in order for Femern A/S’s construction work on the German side to proceed. We will now thoroughly analyse the approval, and then, during the spring, we will present scenarios on how we will achieve the project goals,” said Claus Dynesen.

Most of the Fehmarnbelt construction work will take place on the Danish side at Rødbyhavn, where the large scale factory and work harbor for the production of the 70,000 tonne tunnel elements will be located.

The 18 km Fehmarnbelt tunnel project will connect Denmark’s Lolland Falster region with Germany’s Schleswig Holstein region. This will shorten the journey between the German and Danish coasts to just 10 minutes by car and 7 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.