Fehmarn Tunnel Excavation Complete

The excavation for the upcoming Fehmarn Belt tunnel connecting Denmark and Germany is complete as per Femern A/S’s announcement on Tuesday. This marks Denmark’s largest ever excavation, taking nearly three years, and included dealing with a complex mix of soils that posed exciting challenges. A total of 15 million cubic meters of material has been removed, equivalent to 6,000 Olympic swimming pools or six Great Pyramids of Giza. The excavated material has been used to create about 300 hectares of new land for future beaches and hiking trails. During excavation, massive Ice Age granite blocks were encountered, including a 70-ton block now displayed near the Rødbyhavn construction site. The 18-kilometer tunnel is expected to be completed in 2029, reducing travel time to seven minutes by train and 10 minutes by car between Lolland and Germany. Later this year, the first of the 217-meter long, 73,500-ton tunnel elements will be lowered into the trench at sea.