By Lynda Myer
During the digging process of tunnel trench and carrying out most of the marine work in connection with the large tunnel construction, 3 million consecutive working hours without any accidents and serious injuries has been achieved by FBC, the Dutch joint of Boskalis, Van Oord and Sweco in construction site of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel.
As it has been reported by Confederation of Danish Employers (DA), on construction sites in Denmark there are more than 78 occupational accidents for the corresponding number of working hours.
According to Gintaras Vagelas, HSE manager at Femern A/S: “We are satisfied that we generally have an extremely low accident rate on our project. FBC has approached the task with the same goal as us, namely to be Denmark’s safest construction site. Together, we maintain a constant focus on prevention and a strong safety culture that is part of our DNA at the Fehmarnbelt project.”
Connecting Germany and Denmark via an 18km immersed tube tunnel under the Baltic Sea, the Fehmarnbelt project is the largest construction project in northern Europe at the moment and it is due to consist of 79 217m-long hollow, reinforced concrete elements and 10 special elements.
The determined date for inauguration of this project is 2029, which is slated to be the world’s longest immersed tube tunnel and the longest combined road and rail tunnel underwater.
Fehmarn Link Contractors (FLC), a joint venture of Vinci, Per Aarsleff, Wayss & Freytag, Max Bogl, CFE, Soletanche Bachy and BAM, is the responsible of building the tunnel, portals, ramps, and seabed trench.
