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TUNNELTALK ANNUAL REVIEW 2010
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Annual Review
2010
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Welcome to the digital edition of the TunnelTalk Annual Review 2010
Each of the articles has been published first on www.TunnelTalk.com, the
leading online magazine for the global underground construction industry.
All the articles are hotlinked to the TunnelTalk online Archive allowing for
direct, free access to the full coverage and a wealth of additional information.
All advertisements are also hotlinked directly to the advertiser’s website. All
featured videos are linked to the TunnelTalk YouTube channel.
Digital issues of the Annual Review are available for purchase, allowing you to
build a historic reference of the international tunnelling industry.
Annual Review
2010
elcome to the first TunnelTalk Annual Review – a record of the major events of 2010, as
Wresearched and reported by TunnelTalk. Far from a complete list of the tunnelling and
underground space construction and planning that took place during 2010, the publication
is rather a compilation of project news and technological reports that marked the major
achievements and charted trends for activity into the coming years.
2010 for most was a year of hunkering down. After the heady growth of the early 2000s, the
deep, and shocking collapse of the financial world in 2008-09 had all sectors of the global
economy reeling. For the international tunnelling industry, projects in development, some for
decades, stared at delay or complete cancellation as governments slashed public spending and
private enterprise saw a collapse of order books.
Through 2010, the task for industry leaders and project managers was to hang on to belief in their
projects and convince governments of their viability and critical need. Vast amounts of stimulus
package money certainly benefited many a tunnelling project, but intense scrutiny of budgets had
every pound and penny questioned. Through the pain some mega projects survived - the Alaskan
Way bored tunnel project in Seattle and Crossrail in London high among them. Others did not - the
ARC project in New Jersey being a high profile cancellation.
A trend established well before the economic crisis was commitment by Asian countries to
tremendous public infrastructure investment. China and India are leaders of phenomenal
programmes of tunnelling works throughout Asia and into the Middle East for high-speed rail,
metros, roads, water supply, hydroelectric projects and much more. Hundreds, even thousands,
of kilometres of excavation through all types of geology, using all types and sizes of tunnelling
machines, and applying all manner of support and construction materials, have been added to the
international order books of consultants, contractors and suppliers.
At the same time, the underground option is being adopted throughout the world to comply with
strict environmental regulations and social pressures and to repair, expand and replace ageing
infrastructure. There can be no doubt: the global industry is looking at extreme demand on its
resources in coming years.
This raises urgent concerns for the capacity of suppliers to meet that demand as well as the critical
need for trained engineers and skilled tunnel workers to bring all to reality. Looking into 2011 and
years to come, education and training is a topic of concentration for TunnelTalk coverage as is
reporting on new mega-projects of the world and the continuation of many thousands of local
tunnelling projects that make living in urban and rural areas possible.
While this printed publication is a tangible record of TunnelTalk’s commitment to reporting
developments in the international industry, the magazine’s principal objective is to publish on the
web. By the time anything is printed on paper and distributed it is dated. Publishing on the web is
by far the most direct method of reporting information and researching specific data.
Our readership continues to expand, our free weekly Alert reaches all corners of the globe, our
Archive grows to include wider sources of inter-related information, our video reports bring an
extra dimension to the industry’s media coverage, and our advertisers enjoy direct links to clients,
contractors, and customers worldwide. Our services provide notice boards for those seeking Job
Opportunities, for announcing procurement of new projects and contracts, and for the exchange
of used equipment in the market place. Our Directory expands to include more of the world’s
industry providers and coverage continues to stay abreast of progress and industry developments.
Visit the website – TunnelTalk.com – to know the very latest of industry news and of immediate
development of projects highlighted in this historical record of 2010. An Annual Review of the
TunnelTalk content for 2011 is now in the making. Contact us to book a place among its pages.
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expressed in this journal are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher, neither do the
publishers endorse any of the claims made in the articles or the advertisements. Printed by Buxton Press, UK.
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Contents
MEGA PROJECTS
7 Making history at Gotthard
9 Tunnel beats bridge for Fehmarnbelt fixed link
13 Alaskan Way mega-project procurement
18 London prepares for Crossrail
22 Hallandsås celebrates first tunnel finish
24 Copenhagen begins Cityringen metro line
25 Amsterdam’s Mixshield Metro drives
26 Oslo-Ski high-speed rail options
27 Exploratory bore beginning for Brenner Baseline
PLANNED PROJECTS
28 Baltimore’s billion dollar LRT vision
28 Plan for LRT under downtown Ottawa
29 Mega water supply plan for California
30 CSO program for Washington DC
30 Lee Tunnel start for Thames CSO cleanup
PROJECT PROGRESS
32 Devil’s Slide breaks through
32 Digging begins at Caldecott
33 Port of Miami undersea link underway
34 Brisbane’s underground highways programme
36 San Francisco invests in water supply security
38 India progresses city centre metros
39 Gautrain begins airport link services
39 Delhi Metro meets Games target
40 Onsite EPBM assembly in Mexico City
41 Four pre-qualify for Dublin’s DART PPP
42 Robbins metro connections in China
43 Mobilization of Seattle’s University Link
46 Fast track drill+blast productivity
TBM RECORDER
47 Largest ever TBM from Herrenknecht to Italy
48 Robbins EBPMs heading for Mexico City
49 Veteran TBM continues work on Faroe Islands
51 Two NFM TBMs for Spanish road crossing
51 Cutterhead changes for Barcelona TBM
52 Caterpillar’s TBM strategy
53 Aker Wirth TBM for steep inclined drive
54 Collaboration for new TBM supplier
INNOVATIONS
54 New eco-friendly tail seal grease
55 Lake Mead TBM designed for the extreme
57 UK applies spray-on waterproofing
61 Modern large diameter TBM rock tunnels
63 20 years of fibre concrete linings in the UK
64 A Direct Pipe first in USA
65 Smart infrastructure research
PROJECT RECOVERY
66 Vancouver’s twin tunnels reach target
67 Brightwater’s limit to costly delays
68 Glacier drainage tunnel in full flow
69 Repair of limited headrace collapse in Ethiopia
70 Recovery of failed headrace at Glendoe
71 Inundation at Lake Mead Intake No 3
PREVIEW
DISCUSSION FORUM
72 Channel Tunnel 20 years on
74 PPE last line of defence for safety at work
75 ARC cancellation hit industry hard
76 Surviving massive earthquakes
77 Advocating DRBs
78 DRB scores success in Dublin
79 Company News
CONFERENCES
81 BAUMA goes on despite travel upheaval
82 ITA success at Vancouver
83 NAT Portland surpasses 2008 event
84 Tribute to an engineering master
85 Links across the waters
89 Books and reports
91 Awards and tributes
SECTION TITLE

WORLD RECORD A
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE FINAL BREAKTHROUGH
The The final final breakthrough at at the the Gotthard Base Tunnel on on March 23, 23, 2011 in in the Western tunnel
and and on on October 15, 15, 2010 2010 in in the the Eastern tunnel marks the the most sig sig nificant milestone on the
way way to to completing the the longest railway tunnel in in the the world. Europe salutes Switzerland’s
achievement in creating this this 2 2 times 57 57 kilometer long epoch-making project to to connect
northern and and southern Europe by by rail rail through the the Alps. Our thanks go go to to the client AlpTransit
and and our our customers for for allowing us us to to be be part part of of this this spectacular feat and historic undertaking
with with our our tunnelling technology.
NORTH
NORTH
m above m above sea sea level
level
3,000
3,000
2,000
2,000
ERSTFELD
1,000
1,000
AMSTEG
Aar Aar Massif
Massif
2008 2008 Tunnel Tunnel length: length: 7,148m 7,148m (1) (1) 2009
2009
2003
2003
500
500
Tunnel Tunnel length: length: 7,116m 7,116m (2)
(2)
ERSTFELD / / AMSTEG
Intschi Intschi Zone
Zone
Tunnel Tunnel length: length: 10,722m (3)
(3)
Tunnel Tunnel length: length: 10,703m (4)
(4)
AMSTEG / / SEDRUN
AGN AGN Consortium: STRABAG AG AG Tunnelbau Schweiz (CH) (CH) / / STRABAG AG AG (A) (A)
Tavetsch
Intermediate Massif
SEDRUN
2006 2006 2007
Drill Drill & & blast tunnelling
PREVIEW
(1) Gabi (1) Gabi I, I, Herrenknecht Gripper Gripper TBM TBM S-421, S-421, 9.58m 9.58m
(2) Gabi (2) Gabi II, II, Herrenknecht Gripper Gripper TBM TBM S-422, S-422, 9.58m 9.58m
April April and and May May 2008: 2008: Start Start of regular of regular tunnelling.
July July 19, 19, 2009: 2009: 56m 56m of new of new tunnel tunnel are are created created in just in just 24 24 hours. hours. This This
is deemed is deemed to be to a be world a world record record for a for hard a hard rock rock TBM TBM of such of such dimensions.
June June 16, 16, 2009 2009 and and September 16, 16, 2009: 2009: The The machines reach reach their their
targets targets after after just just 18 months 18 months – 6 – months 6 months ahead ahead of of schedule. Deviation
from from the ideal the ideal axis axis measures measures only only 4mm 4mm in the in the horizontal and and 8mm 8mm in in
the vertical. the vertical.
Top Top tunnelling performances: 56m/day, 185m/week, 711m/month.
(3) (3) Gabi Gabi I, I, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM TBM S-229, 9.58m
(4) (4) Gabi Gabi II, II, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM TBM S-230, 9.58m
October 2003 2003 and and January 2004: Start of of regular tunnelling.
2004: 2004: The The TBMs TBMs pass pass the the Intschi fault fault zone zone more quickly than planned.
June June 2005: A A mixture of of water and and fine fine material entered the the cutterhead
in the in the western tube. tube. The The TBM TBM must must be be freed and and cannot restart tunnelling
until until November.
June June and and October 2006: The The construction site site teams successfully complete
tunnelling at at the the end end of of the the lots, lots, 9 9 and/or 6 6 months ahead of of the the schedule.
Top Top tunnelling performances: 40m/day, 210m/week, 688m/month.

AT THE GOTTHARD.
AT THE NEW GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL.
Herrenknecht Aktiengesellschaft
The Board of Management
Dr.-Ing. E. h. Martin Herrenknecht
Chairman of the Board of Management
Main breakthrough
October 15, 2010
March Breakthrough 23, 2011eastern tunnel
Gotthard Massif
Piora Basin
Gypsiferous cap-rock
(5) Sissi, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM S-210, 9.43m
(6) Heidi, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM S-211, 9.43m
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Gebhard Lehmann
Vice Chairman of the Board of Management
2010 Tunnel length: 11,098m 11,134m (5)
2007
2011
Tunnel length: 11,118m 11,088m (6)
FAIDO / SEDRUN
FAIDO
2006
Betriebswirt (VWA) Kurt Stiefel
Member of the Board of Management
BODIO / FAIDO
Penninic Gneiss Zone
Tunnel length: 13,426m (7)
Tunnel length: 14,088m (8)
BODIO / FAIDO
TAT Consortium: Implenia Industrial Construction, Alpine Bau GmbH, CSC Impresa Costruzioni SA, Hochtief AG, Impregilo SpA
(7) Sissi, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM S-210, 8.83m
(8) Heidi, Herrenknecht Gripper TBM S-211, 8.83m
www.herrenknecht.com
Eastern tunnel
Western tunnel
PREVIEW
SOUTH
BODIO
2003
July and October 2007: The TBMs begin tunnelling the second
construction phase in the south with new, larger cutterheads ( 9.43m).
October 2008 and February 2009: The 150 meter long Piora Basin
is crossed successfully.
March 2010: A rock fall in the western tube and the subsequent
stabilization measures interrupt tunnelling here until July.
October 15, 2010 and March 23, 2011: Final breakthrough. World record.
Top tunnelling performances: 36m/day, 179m/week, 705m/month.
January and February 2003: Start of regular tunnelling.
2003: After just 200 meters the tunnellers unexpectedly encountered
unstable kakirites. This slows down tunnelling for 6 months, since every
meter of tunnel must be secured in a complex process.
2004 to 2006: Stable rock alternates with brittle, squeezing rock.
September 6 and October 26, 2006: Successful breakthroughs
at the Faido underground multifunctional station.
Top tunnelling performances: 38m/day, 190m/week, 619m/month.

h ERRENk NEchT AG | uTILITy T u NNELLING | T RAffI c T u NNELLING
Breakthrough of
Double Shield TBM,
Ø 12.34m,
Clem Jones Tunnel,
Brisbane
China, Mixshield, Ø 15.43m
WORLD LEADER IN LARGE DIAMETER TBMs.
XXL Tunnelling
Mechanized tunnelling technology
for soft ground and hard rock
Traffic and utility infrastructures
Diameters 0.10–19m
More than 80 projects
diameter >10m
More than 320km tunnel
diameter >10m
Spain, EPB Shield, Ø 15.20m Italy, EPB Shield, Ø 15.55m
Australia, Double Shield TBM, Ø 12.34m
Construction companies have successfully excavated more than 320 kilometers of
traffic and utility tunnel with diameters of more than 10 meters using Herrenknecht
technology. In Shanghai the two world’s largest Mixshield TBMs, Herrenknecht S-317
and S-318, Ø 15.43m, excavated three-lane road tunnels under the Yangtze River. The
two giants finished their 7.5km drives one year ahead of schedule and the tunnels
could be opened to the public in time for the 2010 WorldExpo. Brisbane is reducing
above-ground road traffic significantly by investing in efficient underground infrastructure.
Two Herrenknecht Double Shield TBMs (Ø 12.43m) tunnelled under the
Brisbane River for the Clem Jones Tunnel and two even larger Herrenknecht EPB Shields
(Ø 12.45m) are being used for Brisbane’s Airport Link. The world’s largest tunnel boring
machine, the EPB Shield for the Galleria Sparvo road tunnels in Italy with a diameter
of 15.55m has successfully passed workshop acceptance at the Herrenknecht headquarters
in December 2010.
As the only company worldwide, Herrenknecht delivers cutting-edge tunnel
boring machines for all ground conditions and all diameters. Together with the Group’s
innovative specialists, Herrenknecht is able to offer integrated solutions around tunnel
construction at all times. More than 60 international Herrenknecht companies
provide a comprehensive range of services close to the project site and the customer.
PREVIEW
Herrenknecht AG
D-77963 Schwanau
Phone + 49 7824 302-0
Fax + 49 7824 3403
marketing@herrenknecht.com
www.herrenknecht.com

In March 2011, the world’s longest rail tunnel ever undertaken prepared to record
its final breakthrough deep beneath the mountains of the Swiss Alps. The final
breakthrough to connect all headings of the first tunnel into one long tube
through the base of the Gotthard Massive was recorded in October 2010.
Making history at Gotthard
History was made on Friday
15 October 2010 when the
first Bodio-Faido TBM broke
through into the drill+blast heading
from Sedrun to finish 57km of rail
tunnel through the base of the Swiss
Alps from Erstfeld in the north and
Bodio in the south.
Swiss politicians and dignitaries,
project directors and contract
managers as well as senior managers
of the leading suppliers and the
workers themselves all gathered for
an official breakthrough on Friday
afternoon when the TBM fired up at
2pm to cut the last 1.5m of rock and
mark this truly monumental feat of
civil engineering and endurance.
The crews of the TBMs and
drill+blast headings blazed a trail.
This last breakthrough occurred
TunnelTalk reporting
nearly 2,000m below the top of the
Alps and more than 8km from the
nearest exit through the 800m deep
shaft at Sedrun, and more than
13km from the access adit at Faido.
On a project of this magnitude -
the longest, largest, most ambitious
and most technically demanding
tunnelling project of this age - there
have been serious set backs and
delays as crews have tunnelled into
the unknown. Extreme geological
conditions buried a TBM heading
from the Amsteg adit for more than
six months and had another TBM
from the Faido adit at a standstill
for five months from March to
July 2010.
These and other challenges,
some not related to the excavation
work, have caused a slip of some
Celebration of an
epic achievement
PREVIEW
MEGA PROJECTS
www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 7

MEGA PROJECTS
10 years from the original project timeline.
The original plan, set in 1998, was to have
the baseline railway operating in 2007.
As it is, TBM excavation of the longest
drives for the main tunnels started from the
Bodio portals in 2001 with drill+blast work
starting from the base of the deep access
shaft at Sedrun in 2002. Work on the
shorter TBM drives from the north Erstfeld
portals started in 2006. The project is now
scheduled to open at the end of 2017.
When the Gotthard Base Tunnel
During the course of realising the
massive Gotthard Baseline project,
many different contractors and engineering
firms, many thousands of workers, and
legions of different suppliers and equipment
manufacturers contributed to the effort.
Three construction contracts were let
for the main tunnels and their passages
and chambers.
• At Sedrun, the consortium of Implenia/
Frutiget/Bilfinger Berger/Pizzarotti
completed 11km of drill+blast
headings at the bottom of the two
800m deep access shafts.
• At the south, TAT, the Tunnel AlpTransit
Ticino JV comprising Implenia/
Alpine Bau/CSC Impresa/Hochtief/
Impregilo completed two lots and
operated two Herrenknecht TBMs
running parallel for about 14km from the
Bodio portal initially and then carrying
on into the 11km long drives from the
Faido access adit to breakthrough into
the Sedrun drill+blast work.
• From the north, the AGN,
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gotthard-
Basistunnel Nord JV of STRABAG
AG of Switzerland and Austria,
managed the two further Herrenknecht
TBMs on the project for the initial
10.7km of tunnel from the Amsteg
opens in 2017, travel time between Zurich
and Milano will be shortened by one hour.
In addition, freight trains will be able to
travel the straight, flat tunnel alignment
with twice the load and at twice the
speed. People and goods will cross the
Alps faster, more safely and in a much
more environmentally friendly way. The
breakthrough of the first running tunnel
of the twin tubes through the base of
the Alps is a historic and record-setting
achievement.
adit to breakthrough with the Sedrun
drill+blast work and then the 7.1km
parallel drives from the Ersteld portal
to Amsteg.
Herrenknecht AG supplied four gripper
rock TBMs of 8.8m to 9.5m diameter to
the consortia for the north and south lots.
The machines excavated a combined total
of 85km of the 2 x 57km long twin tube
complex. For development works and the
central Sedrun drill+blast excavation, fleets
of Atlas Copco and Sandvik jumbos were
used with their support systems.
Muck haulage behind the advancing
TBMs was via long continuous conveyors
supplied by H+E Logistics but the supplyline
rail-bound workhorses of the longdistance
headings teamed once again the
familiar duo of SCHÖMA locomotives and
Mühlhäuser rolling stock. SCHÖMA supplied
more than 125 powerful locomotives to
the project. Mühlhäuser delivered more
than 500 units to the different contractors
including wagons, concrete remixers, flat
cars, man-riders and specialised ambulance
cars to assist in any emergency.
Concrete admixtures, shotcreting
machines and a fire protection mortar
were contributions by BASF MEYCO to
the different construction contracts.
DELVO ® Crete Stabilizer 10 slowed
The last of the four Herrenknecht
TBMs that have excavated much of the
total underground works was working
towards the very last breakthrough for the
entire project in March 2011. •
References
• Breakthrough milestone for Gotthard Base
Tunnel - TunnelTalk, September 2009
• Gotthard TBM safely across the Piora
Mulda - TunnelTalk, Nov 2008
• Bodio tunnel lining wurms - Switzerland -
TunnelTalk, Dec 2004
Concrete contributions to a mammoth undertaking
down cement hydration to ensure an open
time of four to six hours while GLENIUM ®
superplasticizers maintained workability after
long distance transportation and exposure
to the high temperatures in the interior of the
mountain. The combination was used for
cast final lining as well as shotcrete. MEYCO ®
SA 160 accelerator was added to shotcrete
for fast solidification.
MEYCO ® Fireshield 1350 fire protection
mortar was supplied to protect the concrete
linings from spalling damage in the event
of an in-tunnel fire in the Bodio tunnel
section while MEYCO ® Potenza and Oruga
shotcreting robots were delivered in numbers
to the Erstfeld and Sedrun headings.
To the effort Bekaert supplied volumes
of Dramix ® steel fibre for shotcrete
reinforcement as well as its Duomix® M6
Fire protection polymer fibres.
Many different sets of formwork were
supplied to the project, several of the
specialist pieces by Doka of Austria. For
the Erstfeld lot its equipment lined the two
large span Y-branch crossover caverns.
The congratulations of all in the
international tunnelling industry goes
to the workers, suppliers and all the
managers involved who teamed together
to bring the project to its successful endof-excavation
milestone. •
Among principle suppliers (clockwise from top left): Herrenkneckt gripper TBMs; Schöma locos and Mühlhäuser concrete
remixer cars; Doka formwork; Bekaert steel and polyfibre as well as BASF MEYCO concrete admixtures
PREVIEW
8
TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2010
www.TunnelTalk.com

Contrary to expectation, an immersed tube across the 20km Fehmarnbelt between
Denmark and Germany has come in a whisker less than a cable-stayed bridge.
Technical risks, long term environmental impacts, navigational safety and developments
toward more carbon efficient transportation played a large part in reducing the
estimated cost of the undersea alternative and elevated it to the preferred solution.
The numbers are in and the tunnel
has it by a nose! As large as the
numbers are for the scope of the
project, a cable-stayed bridge across
the Fehmarnbelt for a fixed connection
between Denmark and Germany comes
in at DKK 38.5 billion (about US$7 billion
or E5 billion) while the estimate for an
immersed tube across the 20km strait is
just slightly less at DKK 37.9 billion.
After agreeing the fixed link concept
in September 2008, two teams in the
Danish owner organisation, Femern A/S,
developed conceptual designs and cost
estimates for a four-lane highway and twotrack
railway connection across the sea on
a cable-stayed bridge and in an immersed
tube tunnel. Of these, the bridge had
been considered the less expensive option
through the process and therefore the
favoured plan. Announcement of the cost
estimates in November 2010 produced
a surprise result with the immersed tube
revealing a lower estimate than the bridge.
The result illustrates the tremendous
work achieved by the tunnel team in
exploring new concepts to reduce the
Tunnel beats bridge for
Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link
cost of building, operating and maintaining
an undersea link. Changing attitudes and
new techniques for reducing polluting
substances into the atmosphere also
played a role in the outcome.
One of the most significant cost savings
was elimination of an intermediate manmade
island designed to accommodate a
ventilation shaft and equipment installation.
Projections of low traffic volumes in the
initial years, together with significant and
rapid technical advances in reducing toxic
emissions by road vehicles, have allowed
the adoption of longitudinal ventilation in
the long four-lane traffic tunnel. Instead
of large ventilation buildings and the
intermediate vent station island, fans will
be installed in ceiling recesses at 400m
intervals along the 20km link. This also
optimizes the design of the tunnel’s cross
section eliminating the need for separate
transverse or semi-transverse ventilation
ducts. “The change reduces the volume of
concrete in the immersed tube elements by
some 10%, which is a significant saving on
a project of this scale,” said Steen Lykke,
Project Director Tunnel for Femern A/S.
TunnelTalk reporting
Since release of the cost comparisons
in November 2010, Danish politicians
have adopted the immersed tunnel
as the preferred option. “The decision
means that Femern A/S has reached an
important milestone,” said Leo Larsen,
CEO, Femern A/S. “As our conceptual
design projects are based on a thorough
technical foundation, we can now focus on
ensuring that the authorities approve the
project, including from an environmental
perspective.”
Making the case
Fewer risks, all told, in both the
construction and operational phases than
a cable-stayed bridge is how leaders of the
project say they arrived at recommending
the immersed tunnel.
A cable-stayed bridge across the
Fehmarnbelt, with two free spans of 724m
each, would be the largest spans ever
constructed for either road or rail traffic.
Compounded by the high shipping traffic
in the area, this would pose significant risks
in the construction phase in terms of cost
overruns, delays and industrial accidents.
PREVIEW
Immersed tube tunnel (left) comes in slightly less costly and considered less risky over all than the cable-stayed bridge alternative (right)
MEGA PROJECTS
www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2010
9

MEGA PROJECTS
An immersed tunnel will also
present considerable technical
challenges. However, unlike a bridge,
an immersed tunnel will not entail as
many technical operations which push
the limits of what has been done before.
Essentially, the procedure will be the
same as it was for construction of the
Øresund Fixed Link’s immersed tunnel
under the Drogden Channel between
Denmark and Sweden, only many times
longer and deeper. The Fehmarnbelt
Tunnel will be just under 18km long and
up to 30-40m deep, while the Øresund
Tunnel is approximately 4km long and
about 10m deep.
Both a cable-stayed bridge and
an immersed tunnel would impact the
marine environment but the preliminary
conclusion is that a bridge would have
slightly more significant permanent
impact than an immersed tunnel.
In the interests of navigation safety,
a tunnel poses fewer risks than a
bridge. The Fehmarnbelt is a heavily
trafficked stretch of water with 47,000
vessel transits per annum (2006). In
the coming years, traffic is expected to
increase substantially to about 90,000
vessel transits in 2030.
Financial factors
In financial terms, there is very little
difference between the two projects.
The construction estimate (in 2008
price level) for an immersed tunnel is
E5.1 billion and for a cable-stayed
bridge, E5.2 billion.
The construction time for the
tunnel is estimated at 6½ years, and
for the bridge, 6 years. The cost of
operation and maintenance is slightly
higher for a tunnel than for a bridge.
All told, the payback time for the two
projects would be essentially the same
at about 30 years for the coast-tocoast
project. In a press release of the
announcement, Danish Minister for
Transport Hans Chr. Schmidt stated:
“From an overall financial perspective,
there is no difference between bridge
and tunnel. The cost of the two
solutions is, generally speaking, the
same, which confirms the project’s
sound financial basis.”
Over the coming year, Femern
A/S will complete the Environmental
Impact Statement to be considered
by the authorities in Denmark and
Germany in accordance with national
regulations and submit an application
for construction approval to German
authorities during the first six months
of 2012. A construction bill will then
be submitted to the Danish Parliament,
Folketinget, in 2013. Following
approvals, construction of one of
Europe’s biggest infrastructure projects
is expected to commence in 2014 and
open to traffic in 2020. •
Innovations for the
In September 2008, the Danish and
German Ministers of Transport signed
a treaty to establish a link across the
Fehmarnbelt between Lolland, Denmark
and Fehmarn, Germany. The same treaty
was subsequently approved by the Danish
Parliament and the German Bundestag.
The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link will be the
third major crossing in Denmark after
realization of the Great Belt (1998) and
the Øresund (2000) links. It represents the
missing link in an efficient transport corridor
between Scandinavia and Europe and will
accommodate a four-lane motorway and a
double track railway (Fig 1).
Denmark has assumed sole
responsibility for the financing,
implementation and future operation of the
fixed road and rail link and for this purpose
the state owned organization Femern A/S
has been established. A feasibility study in
1996-1999 looked into a great number of
possible solutions, including bridge and
tunnel (immersed and bored) options, train
shuttles, double and four lane motorways,
single and double track rail, integrated or
seperated from the motorway. On the basis
of the study it was decided to construct
a four-lane motorway and a double track
railway. A cable-stayed bridge was favoured
and the Danish and German Governments
labelled this as the preferred solution.
However, it was decided that an immersed
tube tunnel alternative for the entire crossing
had to be investigated during the planning
stage. Variants which combine in-line or
parallel bridge-tunnel combinations were
not considered due to the great waterdepth,
which would require a huge reclamation to
connect the bridge and tunnel for the in
line option; and for economical reasons for
the parallel arrangement. The final decision
between either a bridge or a tunnel was to
be taken only after it had become clear that
both options were technically feasible and
necessary approvals could be obtained.
In April 2009, Femern A/S selected the
Rambøll-Arup-TEC JV for the design of the
tunnel alternative.
The immersed tunnel solution will set
new records in terms of its dimensions; it
will be the longest tunnel and one of the
deepest tunnels of this type ever built with
a length of 20km and foundation depths
reaching more than 40m under the sea
surface. The size of the project will create
major challenges for designers and future
contractors and will allow for an innovative
approach based on proven technology.
If constructed, the immersed tunnel, will
also be the world’s longest combined road
and rail tunnel; the world’s longest under
water tunnel for road; and the deepest
immersed tunnel with road and rail traffic.
The size of the project is about five times
the tunnel part of the Øresund Link between
Denmark and Sweden and will require a
huge logistical and qualitative challenge
to build in the available construction time
of approximately six years. The amount of
material to be dredged for the trench is about
20 million m 3 and the amount of concrete
for the immersed tube elements is about 3
million m 3 . Production of the elements would
require four to five construction facilities as
used for the Øresund Link.
Operational safety in a tunnel of this
length is a challenge and requires careful
PREVIEW
References
• Fehmarnbelt fixed link options -
TunnelTalk, June 2009
• Cost comparison for Fehmarnbelt link
options - TunnelTalk, Nov 2010
Fig 1. Integration of the road and rail Fehmarnbelt fixed link
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TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2010
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