The Fehmarn Belt bridge is a project to connect the German island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland with a bridge crossing the 11 mi wide Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea. It is expected to be completed in 2018.
The bridge will have a total length of approximately 19 km (12 mi) and will be constructed as a triple-span cable-stayed bridge with each of the three spans being 724 metres (2,375 ft) long. The four pillars carrying the bridge will be approximately 280 m (919 ft) tall. The vertical clearance will be 65 m (213 ft) allowing sea traffic with large ships to and from the Baltic Sea to go beneath it.
The design involves four road lanes and two rail tracks. The latest cost estimate is DKK 42 bn (EUR 5 bn)
This cost includes EUR 1.5 bn for other improvements such as electrifying and rebuilding 99 mi of railway from single to double track. New bridges at Fehmarn Sound and Storstrøm would be needed. However, according to the treaty the Fehmarn Sound bridge need not be replaced, and the Storstrøm Bridge will also not be replaced. Also, the German double track construction will be delayed by seven years according to the treaty.
The bridge and the double track will shorten the rail journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen from 4¾ to 3-3¼ hours. According to plans there will be one passenger train and two freight trains over the bridge per direction per hour. There will be congestion and delays on the German side with this traffic if the double track construction is delayed.
The road between Copenhagen and Hamburg is already motorway except for 25 km in Germany . The rest is a single carriageway expressway. It shall be widened to a motorway except the Fehmarn Sound . It is possible that it will be delayed much further since the forecasted AADT, 9000 vehicles, does not make a four-lane road necessary. There is no penalty in the treaty for delayed construction.
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, and Copenhagen/Malmö as well as further destinations in Scandinavia.
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