Location
Denmark / Germany / Europe
Project record
Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link Immersed Tunnel
Femern A/S and its delivery consortia have moved the 18-kilometre Denmark-Germany fixed link from first-of-kind immersion into an early repeat cycle. The second 73,500-tonne standard element was installed and connected on 29 June 2026, after the first was joined to the Danish portal in May. The owner reports more than 500 metres of the tunnel installed, but 87 of 89 elements, protective backfill, portal and systems interfaces, commissioning, and separate road and railway opening paths remain ahead.
Segment
Immersed tunnels and marine crossings
Status
Second tunnel element immersed and connected; serial immersion, backfill, systems integration, and a two-stage road-then-rail opening remain active / Confirmed
Evidence reviewed
15 July 2026
Controlled taxonomy
Related sectors
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Knowledge context
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Project anatomy
Scope, counterparties, and execution logic
- Client / authority
- Femern A/S
- Delivery parties
- Femern Link Contractors (FLC), Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC), Femern SICE Cobra (FSC), Elecnor
- Contract route
- Femern A/S is the Danish state-owned client under Sund & Bælt. FBC, a Boskalis-Van Oord consortium, is responsible for marine dredging, work harbours, reclamation, and preparatory portal works. FLC's contracts for the element factory, immersed tunnel, portals, and ramps became effective on 1 January 2021. FSC holds the electro-mechanical systems package, while Elecnor is delivering the transformer station. The project is financed through Danish state-guaranteed loans repaid by road tolls and railway charges, with EU support. A replacement overall programme and final cost outcome have not been published after the immersion delay.
- Execution window
- The Danish site works began in 2020 and the principal tunnel contracts became effective in 2021. The 18-kilometre trench was declared fully excavated in April 2024. The first standard element was immersed and connected in May 2026 and the second in June. Sund & Bælt has stated that the former 2029 opening is no longer realistic and is developing a staged opening in which road traffic starts first and railway service follows after the German land connections are ready. Replacement opening dates have not been set.
- Works package
- The crossing comprises approximately 18 kilometres of immersed tunnel carrying a four-lane motorway and two electrified railway tracks in separate tubes, plus a service tube. The marine system uses 79 standard elements, each 217 metres long and about 73,500 tonnes, and 10 shorter special elements with lower-level technical spaces. The completed trench averages about 12 metres deep and 100 metres wide and required excavation of about 15 million cubic metres. Elements are serially cast at Rødbyhavn, floated through purpose-built basins and harbour, towed roughly two kilometres to the trench, lowered onto a prepared gravel bed, joined, secured with gravel and sand, and covered with stone.
- Marine interfaces
- Each immersion joins industrial element production to ballast control, harbour release, tug coordination, the IVY immersion pontoons, wire-guided positioning, survey and laser confirmation, seabed bedding, water-pressure-assisted joint closure, side backfill, and stone cover. Standard and special elements have different handling requirements. The sequence must also respect weather and metocean windows, navigation safety, German plan-approval limits on underwater noise and the location and timing of work, portal readiness, and the handover boundary from civil works to ventilation, lighting, safety, power, road, and railway systems.
- Commercial read
- The second operation materially reduces first-of-kind uncertainty, but it does not establish mature series productivity. The owner expects pace to improve as crews gain experience, while also stating that the specialized immersion-vessel delay put Danish construction about two years behind the former programme. A road-first opening reduces final-stage interface complexity but does not close the German railway, systems, safety, or commissioning obligations. Cost and repayment effects should remain owner-controlled until a revised schedule and financial frame are published.
- Next milestone
- Track the third standard-element operation, accepted cadence across subsequent elements, side backfill and stone cover, production and immersion of the first special element, work in German waters, portal and civil continuity, systems installation and test readiness, German road and railway land connections, and publication of dated road-opening and later railway-opening milestones.
Material change register
What changed, when, and what it proves
Only source-bound events that alter phase, scope, counterparties, delivery, completion, commissioning, or acceptance are listed. A change can advance the record without proving the next gate.
Second standard element immersed and connected
The owner record demonstrates an early repeat of the 73,500-tonne tow, positioning, immersion, and joint sequence and reports more than 500 metres installed; it does not establish mature series cadence, completed protection, or overall tunnel completion.
Read controlling sourceOwner adopted separate road-first and rail-later opening paths
The decision changes the operating-release sequence and makes German railway landworks a separate service dependency, while replacement road and rail opening dates, final systems acceptance, and cost effects remain unpublished.
Read controlling sourceFirst standard element immersed and joined to the Danish portal
The first-of-kind operation proves the initial 217-metre element could be towed, lowered, positioned, laser-confirmed, and hydraulically connected, without proving repeat productivity or acceptance of the remaining 88 elements and systems.
Read controlling sourceOwner withdrew the former 2029 opening baseline
The preparation update establishes that the immersion-vessel delay made a 2029 opening unrealistic and that a new overall schedule would follow early immersion experience; it does not publish replacement dates or a revised final cost.
Read controlling sourceEighteen-kilometre tunnel trench excavation completed
The owner record closes the main dredging phase at about 15 million cubic metres and identifies FBC's Boskalis-Van Oord delivery role, while bedding, immersion, backfill, protection, portals, systems, and opening remain separate packages and gates.
Read controlling sourceDelivery watch
Evidence needed next
Track the third standard-element operation, accepted cadence across subsequent elements, side backfill and stone cover, production and immersion of the first special element, work in German waters, portal and civil continuity, systems installation and test readiness, German road and railway land connections, and publication of dated road-opening and later railway-opening milestones.
Decision watchpoints
- Repeat standard-element tow, immersion, joint, and protection cadence
- First special-element production and immersion learning
- Gravel-bed acceptance, survey evidence, side backfill, and stone cover
- German-water environmental and underwater-noise work windows
- Portal, road, railway, power, ventilation, lighting, and safety-system interfaces
- Published road-opening programme and later railway-opening programme
- Owner-approved cost, repayment, and schedule revisions
Project availability status
This public project page is a tracked market record rather than a tender notice, contractual commitment, or commercial instruction. Use the status, confidence label, evidence-review date, and source note together when judging how much weight to place on the signal.
Read featured analysis Review methodology Submit stronger evidence or a correction Open project trackerSource record
Femern's 29 June 2026 release controls the second-element status, 73,500-tonne unit weight, five-tug tow, wire-guided placement, more-than-500-metre owner statement, and immediate protection works. The 7 and 4 May records establish first-element connection and tow/immersion method. The 17 May owner statement controls the road-first and rail-later strategy and explicitly says a new schedule will follow operating experience with standard and special elements. The January 2026 update controls the old-2029 boundary and delay context. The April 2026 factsheet controls the current physical scope; the April 2024 record controls completed trench excavation. Contractor and ownership pages control role attribution. Two immersed elements do not establish a completion percentage, replacement dates or final costs that the owner has not published.
Phase: construction. Evidence reviewed: 15 July 2026.
Project sources 10
- Second element for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel successfully immersed Femern A/S, 29 June 2026
- The first element of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel successfully immersed Femern A/S, 7 May 2026
- First tunnel element of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel to be immersed Femern A/S, 4 May 2026
- The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will open in two stages Femern A/S, 17 May 2026
- Preparations underway for immersing tunnel elements into the Fehmarnbelt Femern A/S, 21 January 2026
- Factsheet on the Fehmarnbelt tunnel Femern A/S, April 2026
- Dredging works on the Fehmarnbelt tunnel trench completed Femern A/S, 16 April 2024
- The contractors on the Fehmarnbelt tunnel Femern A/S, Current page reviewed 15 July 2026
- Construction phases Femern A/S, Current page reviewed 15 July 2026
- Building the tunnel Femern A/S, Current page reviewed 15 July 2026