BREAKING NEWS: Boskalis, Van Oord wrap up dredging for Fehmarnbelt trench

A joint venture between Boskalis and Van Oord – Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) – has completed the dredging work for the tunnel trench of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel between Denmark and Germany.

photo courtesy of Boskalis

Boskalis’ trailing suction hopper dredgers Crestway and Shoalway together with Van Oord’s trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Amalia recently dredged the last cubic meters from the 18-kilometer-long trench in the seabed after almost three years of dredging to create the trench.

With this, FBC is signing off on the dredging work for the tunnel trench.

photo courtesy of Van Oord

According to Boskalis, FBC’s dredging work is not quite finished, as the final part of this project, the embankments around the tunnel entrances on both the German and Danish sides will be removed, including dredging the underlying connection of the trench.

Once this done in the next months, the installation of the tunnel elements in the trench by another contractor will start to form the longest immersed tunnel in the world.

It consists of a direct road and rail connection between Germany and Denmark, thus becoming the fastest route between Scandinavia and Central Europe for both passenger and freight transport.