Fehmarnbelt Tunnel Project: Application Documents on Public Display

May 6, 2014

Detailed application plans for the Fehmarnbelt fixed link have been put on display to the German public by the authorities in Schleswig-Holstein. As is the practice in Demark, the German regulatory approval process for the Fehmarnbelt project is conducted in full transparency and dialogue with all stakeholders.

One result of this is that all documents in the 11,000-page application were published on a project website six months ago.

Femern A/S has been operating information centres in Rødbyhavn on Lolland and in Burg on Fehmarn (respectively, the Danish and German sides of the link) since 2009. The latter alone has received over 5,000 visitors. The company has also held a series of meetings with the public, businesses and organisations in northern Germany over the same period.

“We have reached another important milestone thanks to the close dialogue with our partners in Germany, not least the state government of Schleswig-Holstein, which has a strong commitment to our joint project,” said Claus F. Baunkjær, CEO of Femern A/S.

Extensive and detailed studies of the environment, technology and safety over the past four years underpin the commitment to transparency and availability of information. Environmental research on land, and in the Fehmarnbelt itself, as well as associated geotechnical investigations have built a solid foundation for the project.

The documents in the application will be made widely available for one month in Burg on Fehmarn, Kiel and several other places in East Holstein. The public and other interested parties can study them and submit suggestions and objections. After this, the local planning authority, LBV Kiel, will hold meetings with stakeholders, consider appeals and make a final decision on approving the plans.

“The approval process for our complex, cross-border tunnel project is now in the final phase. In March 2014 we submitted the completed application to the German traffic authorities (LBV Kiel) responsible for carrying out the approval process,” said Claus F. Baunkjær.

Femern A/S anticipates that the German authorities’ approval and the Danish Construction Act will be ready in time for it to sign contracts with the successful bidding consortia in the summer of 2015. Construction of the Fehmarnbelt fixed link, the tunnel and related infrastructure, will begin immediately after and is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The future fixed link between Rødby and Puttgarden is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. Due to its size and complexity, the project is divided up into four large construction contracts, each of which will create thousands of jobs.

The four contracts cover the dredging of the 18 km and 12 m deep trench in the seabed, the construction of the northern and southern ends of the tunnel and the establishment of the adjacent facilities on both the German and Danish sides of the tunnel.

Key facts

Connects: Denmark and Germany;

Length:18 km;

Type: Immersed road and rail tunnel;

Budget: EUR 5.5 billion;

Construction start: 2015;

Construction time: 6½ years;

Construction ends: 2021;

Funding model: EU support & state backed loans;

Repayment model: User tolls;

Owner: The Danish state;

Project owner: Femern A/S;