World's biggest 'Lego tunnel' to be dropped in ocean as part of £5.6bn project

The longest underwater passageway successful the satellite is being physique betwixt Germany and Denmark and it volition beryllium made up of 89 segments which are being likened to Lego pieces

A ‘Lego tunnel’ is being built which volition beryllium enactment nether the oversea to supply a large transport nexus betwixt Denmark and Germany.

The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, a £5.6 cardinal task featuring the extraordinary underwater structure covering 18 kilometres, is slated for completion by 2029. What makes it truthful peculiar is that it is made up of 89 passageway segments, each measuring 217 metres agelong and weighing 73,500 tonnes, with these ‘precast’ chunks enactment unneurotic connected land.

A immense trench volition beryllium carved retired of the seabed wherever the dubbed Lego passageway volition beryllium placed 40 metres beneath the surface. It is planned to beryllium an underwater road for transport with some a roadworthy for vehicles and a railway line moving betwixt Puttgarden, connected Germany’s Fehmarn Island and Rodby connected Denmark’s Lolland Island. It is planned to beryllium a four-lane motorway and a dual-track railway.

Tunnel portals connecting the motorway and railway connected onshore with the submerged passageway are besides being built astatine some ends of the Fehmarnbelt. Maritime operation kicked disconnected successful June 2020, with builders utilizing astir 2 cardinal tons of Norwegian granite to make a wholly caller agelong of coastline. Work connected the German broadside of the passageway began successful 2021, marking the culmination of astatine slightest 15 years of planning.

Each of the passageway segments volition person watertight seals to support the h2o retired erstwhile connected the oversea with this operation precise antithetic to the accustomed underwater tunnels which are really carved retired of the rock. The Fehmarnbelt passageway volition go the longest underwater transition successful the world, surpassing the Øresund Tunnel successful Sweden which is 7.8km-long.

The monolithic operation volition alteration the obstruction transport of goods, including steel, from arsenic acold northbound arsenic Norway's extremity to cardinal and confederate Europe. It volition trim the bid travel clip betwixt Copenhagen and Hamburg from 4.5 hours to 2.5 hours.

Denise Juchem, spokesperson for Femern A/S, the Danish steadfast starring the complaint connected this groundbreaking development, told Euronews Travel: "For commuters, it means a faster and much reliable transportation betwixt Denmark and Germany, importantly reducing question clip and making regular commutes overmuch much convenient." Though drivers are expected to reap large benefits from the tunnel, the imaginable of adjacent swifter obstruction journeys is predicted to entice travellers distant from car use.