Fehmarn Belt is suffering challenges meeting deadlines

The specially built vessel IVY has not yet been fully tested and approved by authorities, and the preparation of this vessel is now 1.5 years behind schedule.

Delaying the project The vessel is to be used for lowering the 73,500-ton heavy and 217-meter long concrete elements that will rest on the bottom of the belt. With the current delay of IVY, it is estimated to be difficult to complete the tunnel according to the original timeline.

Mikkel Hemmingsen, who is CEO of Sund & Bælt, the client for the project, is not surprised that difficulties arise along the way. He explains:

“The Fehmarn Belt connection is the world’s longest immersed tunnel. It is a megaproject, and with that inevitably come challenges and unpredictable events. IVY is a prototype that has been specially built for us, and it has required more time than anticipated.”

German authority approvals not in place

Furthermore, the German authority approvals are not fully in place.

Mikkel Hemmingsen says about the construction contract that was signed in 2016:

“The contracts are nearly 10 years old, and they were entered into before both Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine occurred, and before we knew the extent of the German authority conditions.”

Sund & Bælt is in ongoing dialogue with German authorities to find practical solutions for the parts of the project that are not fully clarified regarding authority approvals.

Other technical challenges

There also remains a leveling of parts of the tunnel trench with gravel, as supplementary geotechnical investigations have shown that parts of the tunnel trench are approximately 30 cm deeper than planned.

The construction of the double-track 110-kilometer railway line between Ringsted and Rødby is proceeding on schedule.