CRIST has concluded a contract with FLC (Femern Link Contractors) responsible for the design and construction of the immersed tunnel. The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link will consist of a motorway and rail connection including an 18 km long tunnel that will allow travelling faster and safer between Scandinavia and continental Europe between the ports of Puttgarden in Germany and Rødbyhavn on Lolland in Denmark. In contrast, the train journey between Hamburg and Copenhagen will take less than 3 hours (currently 4½ hours).
Femern Link Contractors, FLC, is the Joint Venture in charge of the Design & Construction of the immersed tunnel (Tunnel North Contract & Tunnel South Contract), the tunnel portals and ramps (Tunnel Portal and Ramps Contract). Joint Venture is constituted by international civil works companies which have individual experience in major infrastructure projects:
The joint venture comprises VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead company for the two contracts covering construction of the immersed tunnel and the tunnel precast element factory), Per Aarsleff Holding A/S (lead company for the third contract, which covers the tunnel access ramps), Soletanche Bachy International (a VINCI Construction subsidiary), CFE, Dredging International NV, Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau, Max Bögl Stiftung & Co, BAM Infra and BAM International.
CRIST will build and fully equip, multi-purpose pontoon [MPP] with submersible dumping tool [SDT] which will be used to lay a gravel bed on the seabed under the tunnel element connecting Germany (Fehmarn) and Denmark (Lolland). As part of the project, CRIST will cooperate with the local design office StoGda, which will be responsible for detail design.
The unit will have a hull length of 130.2m and an overall length of up to 149m including conveyor belts. The overall width will be 48m. The pontoon will accommodate up to 19 people who will work in two shifts. The unit will have two gravel bunkers, each carrying up to 7.000 tons of gravel. The remote-controlled gravel placement tool, the so-called SDT, will be lowered from underneath the MPP up to 46m below the waterline where it will install gravel berms. These will serve as foundation for a submerged tunnel. The combination of a high level of automation and state of the art positioning technologies will ensure the accurate placement of the gravel foundations.
This is another large infrastructure project won by CRIST after the Zourite offshore viaduct construction unit or the Marco Polo specialized dock used to increase the area of the Principality of Monaco. Those are multi-billion euro projects and CRIST participation is yet again strong proof of its technical possibilities, preparation for the project, and above all - reliability of the company. The more we are happy that the contract came to CRIST, which confirms our well-established position on the market of specialist units.