A vast undersea tunnel is being built that will change the road and rail map of Europe
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 01:02 last edited by
Quite interesting. Quite an engineering project.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/fehmarnbelt-tunnel-germany-denmark-europe/index.html
On the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the south of Denmark, a vast engineering marvel is taking shape — piece by giant concrete piece — that, when finished, will drastically redraw the road and rail maps of Europe.
The Fehmarnbelt tunnel may not have grabbed the popular imagination in the same way as the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France did more than 30 years ago, but this structure is just as impressive, if not more so.
Linking Denmark and Germany, the Fehmarnbelt will carry two-lane road highways under the water in both directions, plus two electrified rail lines — a multiple tube thoroughfare that will plunge beneath the waves of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
At 18 kilometers (11.2 miles), it’s nowhere near as long as the 50-kilometer (31-mile) Channel Tunnel, but in many other ways it’s bigger. The project will, in fact, be the world’s longest road and rail tunnel, and the world’s longest immersed tunnel.
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 02:05 last edited by
Such a huge project. Very cool. Thanks for posting this!
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 12:50 last edited by
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 12:52 last edited by
What a massive project. I'm too lazy to look it up, but it seems their "wide" approach with the physical wall/support separations of each direction of traffic and the rails, helps provide stability throughout the tunnel since it's so wide.
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 14:51 last edited by
I took the ferry that connects the ends of the planned tunnel a couple of times.
It's nice to save some time there in the future.
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 15:13 last edited by
I enjoyed the time on the ferry while having some nice seafood, although I must admit the last time the quality wasn't super.
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wrote on 13 Mar 2025, 19:52 last edited by jon-nyc
The one and only time I drove between London and Paris was before they finished the Chunnel. The ferry was depressing.