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The 'Fehmarn Belt bridge' (Danish: ''Femern Bælt-forbindelsen'', German: ''Fehmarnbelt-Querung'') is a project to connect the German island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland with a bridge crossing the 18-km wide Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea.
The bridge will have a total length of approximately 19 km and will be constructed as a triple-span cable-stayed bridge with each of the three spans being 724 m. The four pillars carrying the bridge will be approximately 280 m tall. The vertical clearance will be 65 m allowing sea traffic to and from the Baltic Sea to go beneath it.
On 29 June 2007, an agreement was reached in Berlin between the Danish and German authorities (represented by their transport ministers) to proceed with the construction of the bridge^[1].
Details provided by Danmarks Radio state that the Fehmarn Belt bridge will run 19 km from a point about 2 km west of Rødby in Denmark to Puttgarden on the island of Fehmarn which is already connected by bridge to the German mainland. Construction will start in 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2018.
The bridge will be financed by state-guaranteed loans, which will be paid by the road and train fees. Denmark will be solely responsible for guaranteeing the funding of the project at an estimated cost of 35 billion Danish crowns or 4.7 billion euro^[2]. German participation will be limited to the development of the land-based facilities on the German side^[3]. Denmark will own the bridge alone, allowed to keep the fees after the loans have been paid, and get work opportunities for the toll station. The agreement reached between the transport ministers will need to be ratified by the national parliaments leading to a bilateral treaty but no difficulties are expected.
Politically, the governments of both countries had been negotiating the project for 15 years. A go-ahead should have been reached in 2006. However, at a meeting in February 2007, it was decided to delay the agreement and re-examine the financing as a result of rising costs. The Germans have been reluctant to participate in the funding of the Fehmarn Belt link as they give higher priority to other transport projects in Northern Germany. Denmark will therefore finance most of the work on the bridge and will host the toll collection system. European funding under the TEN (Trans-European Networks) programme will also be applied to the project.
There have been objections from local people in Germany, both those fearing loss of jobs in connection with today's intensive ferry traffic and environmental protectionists who believe wildlife will suffer from the project^[4].
The design has tentatively been decided to be a triple-span cable-stayed bridge, with four road lanes and two rail tracks. The latest cost estimate is DKK 42 bn (€ 5 bn) for the bridge including € 1.5 bn for the land connections (mainly 160 km railway rebuilt from single to double track, and electrified).
The project is comparable to the Øresund Bridge, the Great Belt Bridge or plans for the Strait of Messina Bridge and will be the largest planned infrastructure project in Northern Europe. The route is the main connection between Hamburg, (Hamburg Metropolitan Region), and Copenhagen/Malmö, (Øresund Region); (in German: ''Vogelfluglinie'', in Danish: ''fugleflugtslinjen'').
A Gedser-Rostock bridge, about 50 km further east, has been proposed as an alternative to the Fehmarn Belt bridge. Proponents argue it would be better situated as a link from Scandinavia to Berlin, Poland and Eastern Europe.

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References

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References

1. Comments by Danish Transport and energy secretary Flemming Hansen, June 29, 2007
2. Danmark hænger på Femern-regning, Danmarks Radio 29 June 2007
3. Tiefensee: Durchbruch für feste Fehmarnbeltquerung, German ministry of transport 29 June 2007
4. Report from Deutsche Welle 29 June 2007

External links

★ Official website

★ Femern Bælt, Danish traffic ministry

★ Pictures, Danish traffic ministry