Fehmarnbelt Tunnel Construction Reshapes Denmark-Germany Travel

The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel, currently under construction beneath the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Germany, will be the world's longest pre-fabricated road and rail tunnel at 18 kilometers. Built by assembling massive reinforced concrete segments on the seafloor, the project is a significant engineering achievement, with 90 elements joined together like Lego bricks. The tunnel, financed primarily by Denmark with support from the European Commission, will reduce travel between Rødbyhavn and Puttgarten from a 45-minute ferry ride to just 10 minutes by car or seven minutes by train. It will also cut travel time between Copenhagen and Hamburg by half and provide a greener, more efficient route for both freight and passengers. The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is part of a broader EU initiative to enhance cross-continental connections while reducing air travel, and exemplifies international collaboration and innovation in infrastructure. Project leaders note that while immersed tunnels have been built before, none have matched this scale.