SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Atkins will act as the consultant for the 18km Fehmarn link between Danish island of Lolland and the German island of Fehmarn.
Danish planning company Femern’s contract with Atkins will last a minimum of eight years, and can be extended. When completed in 2028, the project will be the world’s longest road and rail immersed tunnel, that is, one constructed by digging a trench rather than boring a shaft.
It will carry a two electrified dual-track line rail tracks and a four-lane motorway. Trains will travel up to 200 km/h on the line, with journeys taking seven minutes. At present it takes an hour to travel between the countries by ferry.
Atkins’ scope on the project includes work on the track, overhead catenary system, power supply, signalling, train control and telecoms. It will work alongside German engineer Gauff, which is in charge of the German elements of the project.
The route of the Fehmarn Belt (Femern A/S)
Eva Rindom, Atkins Denmark’s managing director, said: "We are incredibly proud to be part of a project which will act as a basis for regional development and provide a fast and efficient link between Scandinavia and Germany.
"We have decades of experience of working on rail projects in Denmark and we look forward to bringing this to the project."
The €4.7bn development was given the green light by Danish parliament in March 2019. It was awarded €200m in funding by the European Investment Bank in May 2019, but in June the EU said it had commenced an in-depth investigation into whether the project’s financing model had breached EU state-aid rules.
Top image: A rendering of the tunnel entrance (Femern A/S)
