Great Belt Fixed Link
Encyclopedia
The Great Belt Fixed Link is the fixed link between the Danish
islands of Zealand and Funen
across the Great Belt
. It consists of a road suspension bridge
and railway tunnel
between Zealand and the island Sprogø
, as well as a box girder bridge
between Sprogø and Funen. The "Great Belt Bridge" (Danish: Storebæltsbroen) commonly refers to the suspension bridge, although it may also be used to mean the beam bridge or the link in its entirety. The suspension bridge, known as the East Bridge, has the world's third longest main span (1.6 km), and the longest outside of Asia
. It was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.
The link replaces the ferry service
which had been the primary means of crossing the Great Belt. After more than five decades of speculation and debate, the decision to construct the link was made in 1986; while the original intent was to complete the railway link three years before opening the road connection, the link was opened to rail traffic in 1997 and road traffic in 1998. At an estimated cost of DKK
21.4 billion (1988 prices), the link is the largest construction project in Danish history.
Operation & maintenance of the link is performed by A/S Storebælt under Sund & Bælt. Construction and maintenance are financed by tolls
on vehicles and trains.
The link has reduced travel times significantly; previously taking about an hour by ferry, the Great Belt can now be crossed in about 10 minutes. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link and the Øresund Bridge have, together, enabled one to drive from mainland Europe to Sweden
and the rest of Scandinavia
through Denmark, providing an alternative to the significantly longer land route through Finland
. Cyclists are not permitted to use the bridge, but may transport their cycle on a train or a bus.
entered service between the coastal towns of Korsør
and Nyborg
in 1883, connecting the railway lines on either side of the Belt. In 1957, road traffic was moved to the Halsskov–Knudshoved route, about 1.5 kilometres to the north and close to the modern-day fixed link.
Construction drafts for a fixed link were presented as early as the 1850s, with several suggestions appearing in the following decades. The Danish State Railways, responsible for the ferry service, itself presented plans for a bridge in 1934. In 1948, the Ministry for Public Works (now the Ministry of Transport) established a commission to investigate the implications of a fixed link.
The first law concerning a fixed link was enacted in 1973, but the project was put on hold in 1978 as the Venstre
(Liberal) party demanded postponing of various public spending. Political agreement to restart work was reached in 1986, with a construction law being passed in 1987.
The design was eventually carried out by the architecture practice Dissing+Weitling together with the engineering firm COWI
.
Construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link commenced in 1988. In 1991, Finland
sued Denmark at the International Court of Justice
, on the grounds that Finnish-built mobile offshore drilling units would have been unable to pass beneath the bridge. The two countries negotiated a financial compensation of 90 million Danish krone
r, and Finland withdrew the lawsuit.
became the biggest building project ever in the history of Denmark
. In order to connect Halsskov on Zealand with Knudshoved on Funen
, 18 kilometres to its west, a two-track railway and a four-lane motorway had to be built, aligned via the small island of Sprogø
in the middle of the Great Belt. In general terms, the project comprised three different construction tasks: The East Bridge for road transport, the East Tunnel for rail transport and the West Bridge for road and rail transport combined. The construction work was carried out by Sundlink Contractors, a consortium of Skanska
, Hochtief
, Højgaard & Schultz (which built the West Bridge) and Monberg & Thorsen (which built the eight kilometre section under the Great Belt). The work of lifting and placing the elements was carried out by Ballast Nedam using a floating crane.
between Halsskov and Sprogø. It is 6790 metres (22,277 ft) long with a free span of 1624 metres (5,328 ft), making it the world's third-longest suspension bridge span, surpassed only by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and Xihoumen Bridge
. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge was opened two months earlier. The East Bridge was assumed to be the longest at completion, but was delayed and so number two when opened. The vertical clearance for ships is 65 metres (213 ft), meaning the world's largest cruise ship just fits under.
At 254 metres (833 ft) above sea level, the two pylons of the East Bridge are the highest points on solid structures in Denmark
. (Only some radio masts as Tommerup transmitter are taller.)
To keep the main cables tensioned, an anchorage structure on each side of the span is placed below the road deck. Additionally, a total of 19 concrete pillars (12 on the Zealand side, 7 by Sprogø), each separated by a distance of 193 metres (633 ft), carry the road deck outside the span.
There were delays and cost overruns in the tunnel construction. The plans was to open it for traffic in 1993, giving the trains a head start of three years over the road traffic. In reality the train traffic started in 1997 and road traffic in 1998. During construction of the tunnels, the sea bed gave way and one of the tunnel pipes was flooded. The water continued to rise and reached the end at Sprogø, where it continued into the (still dry) other tunnel pipe. The water thus damaged two of the four tunnel boring machine
s, but no workers were injured. Only by placing a clay blanket on the sea bed was it possible to dry out the tunnels. The two damaged machines were repaired and the majority of the tunnelling was undertaken from the Sprogø side. The tunnel machines on the Zealand side tunnelled through difficult ground and made little progress. A major fire on one of the Zealand machines in June 1994 finally stopped these drives and the tunnels were completed by the two Sprogø machines.
A total 320 compressed air
workers were involved in 9018 pressure exposures in four tunnel boring machines. The project had a decompression sickness
incidence of 0.14% with two workers having long term residual symptoms.
The fixed link has produced considerable time savings for travel and transport between eastern and western Denmark. Previously, the average elapsed time involved in car transfer by ferry across the Great Belt was approximately 90 minutes, including the waiting time at the harbours. The time was considerably higher during peak volume periods, that is, weekends and holidays. After the opening of the Great Belt Link, the elapsed time has fallen to between 10 and 15 minutes.
For those who travel by train, the time savings are even greater. The travel time has been reduced by 60 minutes, and there are many more seats available than previously, because more railway cars may be added to a train as the train does not have to fit onto a ferry. The total seating capacity
offered by DSB
across the Great Belt on an ordinary Wednesday has risen from 11,060 seats to 37,490 seats. On Fridays the seating capacity
exceeds 40,000 seats.
On the following stretches the shortest travel times are as follows: Copenhagen
–Odense
1 hour 15 minutes, Copenhagen–Aarhus
2 hours 30 minutes, Copenhagen–Aalborg
3 hours 55 minutes and Copenhagen–Esbjerg
2 hours 35 minutes.
The air connections Copenhagen
–Odense
and Copenhagen–Esbjerg
have been closed down, and the train has taken a leading market share between Copenhagen and Aarhus.
From an international perspective, the link — together with the Oresund Bridge
— provide a direct fixed connection between western Continental Europe
and northern Scandinavia
, eventually connecting all parts of the European Union
except for Ireland
, Malta
and Cyprus
and outlying islands. Most people from Zealand still prefer taking the ferry between Puttgarden
and Rødby
, as it is a much shorter distance, and provides a needed break for those travelling long distance.
For cargo trains, the fixed links mean a large improvement. Cargo trains can go between Sweden and Germany, and even between Sweden and the UK. The Sweden-to-Germany ferry system is still used to some extent, owing to limited rail capacity, with heavy passenger traffic over the bridges and some single track rail in southern Denmark and northern Germany.
For passenger trains between Copenhagen and Germany, the Great Belt is used for the night trains, which are too long to fit on the ferries. For day trains on the Copenhagen-Hamburg route the Fehmarn Belt
ferries are still used, with short diesel trains.
In 2020 however, the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is expected to be completed with much of this international passenger and cargo traffic being shifted from the Great Belt Fixed Link. This more direct route would also have the effect of shortening the rail journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen from 4¾ to 3½ hours.
Environmental considerations have been an integral part of the construction project of the fixed link across the Great Belt, and have been of decisive significance for the choice of alignment and determination of the design of the construction. Environmental considerations were the reason why the Great Belt A/S established an environmental monitoring programme in 1988, and initiated co-operation with authorities and external consultants on the definition of environmental concerns during the construction work and the professional requirements to the monitoring programme. This co-operation issued in a report published at the beginning of 1997 on the state of the environment in the Great Belt. The conclusion of the report was that the marine environment was at least as good as before the construction work began.
As concerns the water flows, the Great Belt Link must comply with the so-called zero-solution. This has been achieved by deepening parts of the Great Belt, so that the water flow cross section has been increased. This excavation compensates for the blocking effect caused by the bridge pylons and approach ramps. The conclusion of the report concerning the water flows is that the flow is now almost at the level it was at before the bridge was built.
The fixed link across the Great Belt has generated increased road traffic volume, which in itself has meant increased air pollution
. However, there has been significant savings in the energy consumption of the east-west traffic by switching from ferries to the fixed link. Train and car ferries consume much energy for propulsion. High-speed ferries consume large amounts of energy at high speeds. Also air transport is highly energy consuming. Domestic air travel over the Great Belt was greatly reduced after the opening of the bridge, with the former air travellers now using trains and private cars.
The larger energy consumption by ferry transport, as opposed to transport via the fixed link, is most clearly seen when comparing short driving distances from areas immediately east or west of the link. For more extended driving distances the difference in energy consumption is smaller, but any transport within Denmark’s borders that goes east–west across the link shows very clear energy savings.
During 2009, 7 large wind turbines, likely Vestas 3MWs totalling 21MW capacity, have been erected in the sea north of the island of Sprogø in order to contribute to the electrical consumption of the Great Belt Link. Their hub height are about the same level as the road deck of the suspension bridge. Part of the project was to showcase sea wind at the December 2009 Copenhagen climate meeting.
The West Bridge has been struck by sea traffic twice. While the link was still under construction on 14 September 1993, the ferry M/F Romsø drifted off course in bad weather and hit the West Bridge.
At 19:17 on 3 March 2005, the 3,500-ton freighter M/V Karen Danielsen
crashed into the West Bridge 800 metres from Funen. All traffic across the bridge was halted, effectively cutting Denmark in two. The bridge was re-opened shortly after midnight, after the freighter was pulled free and inspectors had found no structural damage to the bridge.
The East Bridge has so far been in the clear, although on 16 May 2001, the bridge was closed for 10 minutes as the Cambodia
n 27,000-ton bulk carrier
Bella was heading straight for one of the anchorage structures. The ship was deflected due to a swift response from the navy.
On 5 June 2006, a maintenance vehicle burst into flames in the east-bound railway tunnel at about 21:30. Nobody was hurt; its crew of three fled to the other tunnel and escaped. The fire was put out shortly before midnight, and the vehicle was removed from the tunnel the next day. Train service resumed on 6 June at reduced speed, and normal service was restored on 12 June 2006.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
islands of Zealand and Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
across the Great Belt
Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is the...
. It consists of a road suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
and railway tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
between Zealand and the island Sprogø
Sprogø
Sprogø is a small, protected Danish island, which is located in the Great Belt, the strait that separates the main islands of Funen and Zealand...
, as well as a box girder bridge
Box girder bridge
A box girder bridge is a bridge in which the main beams comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box. The box girder normally comprises either prestressed concrete, structural steel, or a composite of steel and reinforced concrete. The box is typically rectangular or trapezoidal in cross-section...
between Sprogø and Funen. The "Great Belt Bridge" (Danish: Storebæltsbroen) commonly refers to the suspension bridge, although it may also be used to mean the beam bridge or the link in its entirety. The suspension bridge, known as the East Bridge, has the world's third longest main span (1.6 km), and the longest outside of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. It was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.
The link replaces the ferry service
Great Belt ferries
The Great Belt ferries were the train and car ferries operating across the Danish strait of Great Belt, between the islands of Zealand and Funen...
which had been the primary means of crossing the Great Belt. After more than five decades of speculation and debate, the decision to construct the link was made in 1986; while the original intent was to complete the railway link three years before opening the road connection, the link was opened to rail traffic in 1997 and road traffic in 1998. At an estimated cost of DKK
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
21.4 billion (1988 prices), the link is the largest construction project in Danish history.
Operation & maintenance of the link is performed by A/S Storebælt under Sund & Bælt. Construction and maintenance are financed by tolls
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
on vehicles and trains.
The link has reduced travel times significantly; previously taking about an hour by ferry, the Great Belt can now be crossed in about 10 minutes. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link and the Øresund Bridge have, together, enabled one to drive from mainland Europe to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and the rest of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
through Denmark, providing an alternative to the significantly longer land route through Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Cyclists are not permitted to use the bridge, but may transport their cycle on a train or a bus.
History
The Great Belt ferriesGreat Belt ferries
The Great Belt ferries were the train and car ferries operating across the Danish strait of Great Belt, between the islands of Zealand and Funen...
entered service between the coastal towns of Korsør
Korsør
Korsør is a Danish town and port. It is out on the Great Belt, on the Zealand side, just south of where the Great Belt Bridge lands. It was the site of the municipal council of Korsør municipality - today it is part of Slagelse municipality...
and Nyborg
Nyborg
Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 16,492 . Nyborg is one of the 14 large municipalities created on 1 January 2007...
in 1883, connecting the railway lines on either side of the Belt. In 1957, road traffic was moved to the Halsskov–Knudshoved route, about 1.5 kilometres to the north and close to the modern-day fixed link.
Construction drafts for a fixed link were presented as early as the 1850s, with several suggestions appearing in the following decades. The Danish State Railways, responsible for the ferry service, itself presented plans for a bridge in 1934. In 1948, the Ministry for Public Works (now the Ministry of Transport) established a commission to investigate the implications of a fixed link.
The first law concerning a fixed link was enacted in 1973, but the project was put on hold in 1978 as the Venstre
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...
(Liberal) party demanded postponing of various public spending. Political agreement to restart work was reached in 1986, with a construction law being passed in 1987.
The design was eventually carried out by the architecture practice Dissing+Weitling together with the engineering firm COWI
COWI A/S
COWI A/S is an international consulting group, specialising in engineering, environmental science and economics, based in Lyngby, Denmark.It has been involved in more than 50,000 projects in 175 countries...
.
Construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link commenced in 1988. In 1991, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
sued Denmark at the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
, on the grounds that Finnish-built mobile offshore drilling units would have been unable to pass beneath the bridge. The two countries negotiated a financial compensation of 90 million Danish krone
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
r, and Finland withdrew the lawsuit.
Construction
The construction of the fixed link across the Great BeltGreat Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is the...
became the biggest building project ever in the history of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. In order to connect Halsskov on Zealand with Knudshoved on Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
, 18 kilometres to its west, a two-track railway and a four-lane motorway had to be built, aligned via the small island of Sprogø
Sprogø
Sprogø is a small, protected Danish island, which is located in the Great Belt, the strait that separates the main islands of Funen and Zealand...
in the middle of the Great Belt. In general terms, the project comprised three different construction tasks: The East Bridge for road transport, the East Tunnel for rail transport and the West Bridge for road and rail transport combined. The construction work was carried out by Sundlink Contractors, a consortium of Skanska
Skanska
Skanska AB, is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden, where it also is the largest construction company. The company's head office is in Solna, north of Stockholm.-History:...
, Hochtief
Hochtief
Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft is Germany's largest construction company. It is based in Essen but operates globally, ranking as the top general builder in the United States through its Turner Corporation subsidiary, and in Australia through the Leighton Group. In 2010 it employed more than 70,000...
, Højgaard & Schultz (which built the West Bridge) and Monberg & Thorsen (which built the eight kilometre section under the Great Belt). The work of lifting and placing the elements was carried out by Ballast Nedam using a floating crane.
The East Bridge
Built between 1991 and 1998, the East Bridge (Østbroen) is a road suspension bridgeSuspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
between Halsskov and Sprogø. It is 6790 metres (22,277 ft) long with a free span of 1624 metres (5,328 ft), making it the world's third-longest suspension bridge span, surpassed only by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and Xihoumen Bridge
Xihoumen Bridge
The Xihoumen Bridge The 5.3-kilometre-long suspension bridge connection has a 2.6-kilometre-long main bridge with a central span of 1,650 metres. The approaches total 2.7 kilometres. When it opened, there was only one bridge with a larger span, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan...
. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge was opened two months earlier. The East Bridge was assumed to be the longest at completion, but was delayed and so number two when opened. The vertical clearance for ships is 65 metres (213 ft), meaning the world's largest cruise ship just fits under.
At 254 metres (833 ft) above sea level, the two pylons of the East Bridge are the highest points on solid structures in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. (Only some radio masts as Tommerup transmitter are taller.)
To keep the main cables tensioned, an anchorage structure on each side of the span is placed below the road deck. Additionally, a total of 19 concrete pillars (12 on the Zealand side, 7 by Sprogø), each separated by a distance of 193 metres (633 ft), carry the road deck outside the span.
The West Bridge
The West Bridge (Vestbroen) is a box girder bridge between Sprogø and Knudshoved. It is 6611 metres (21,690 ft) long, and has a vertical clearance for ships of 18 metres (59 ft). It is essentially two separate, adjacent bridges above water. The northern one carries rail traffic and the southern one carries road traffic. However, the pillars of the two bridges rest on common foundations below sea level. The West Bridge was built between 1988 and 1994; its road/rail deck comprises 63 sections, supported by 62 pillars.The tunnel
The twin bored tunnel tubes of the East Tunnel (Østtunnelen) are 8024 metres (5 mi) long each. Between the two main tunnels, 31 connecting tunnels were placed at 250 metres (820 ft) intervals. The equipment that is necessary for train operation in the tunnels is installed in the connecting tunnels. The connecting tunnels also serve as emergency escape routes.There were delays and cost overruns in the tunnel construction. The plans was to open it for traffic in 1993, giving the trains a head start of three years over the road traffic. In reality the train traffic started in 1997 and road traffic in 1998. During construction of the tunnels, the sea bed gave way and one of the tunnel pipes was flooded. The water continued to rise and reached the end at Sprogø, where it continued into the (still dry) other tunnel pipe. The water thus damaged two of the four tunnel boring machine
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
s, but no workers were injured. Only by placing a clay blanket on the sea bed was it possible to dry out the tunnels. The two damaged machines were repaired and the majority of the tunnelling was undertaken from the Sprogø side. The tunnel machines on the Zealand side tunnelled through difficult ground and made little progress. A major fire on one of the Zealand machines in June 1994 finally stopped these drives and the tunnels were completed by the two Sprogø machines.
A total 320 compressed air
Breathing gas
Breathing gas is a mixture of gaseous chemical elements and compounds used for respiration.Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas...
workers were involved in 9018 pressure exposures in four tunnel boring machines. The project had a decompression sickness
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
incidence of 0.14% with two workers having long term residual symptoms.
Traffic implications
Prior to the opening of the link, an average of 8,000 cars used the ferries across the Great Belt every day. In 2008, an average of 30,200 cars travelled the link each day. The increase of the traffic volume is partly caused by the general growth of traffic, partly diversion of traffic volume from other ferry services and air services, and finally the so-called traffic leap, that is, new traffic generated by the improved ease, facility and lower price of crossing the Great Belt.The fixed link has produced considerable time savings for travel and transport between eastern and western Denmark. Previously, the average elapsed time involved in car transfer by ferry across the Great Belt was approximately 90 minutes, including the waiting time at the harbours. The time was considerably higher during peak volume periods, that is, weekends and holidays. After the opening of the Great Belt Link, the elapsed time has fallen to between 10 and 15 minutes.
For those who travel by train, the time savings are even greater. The travel time has been reduced by 60 minutes, and there are many more seats available than previously, because more railway cars may be added to a train as the train does not have to fit onto a ferry. The total seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
offered by DSB
Danske Statsbaner
DSB, an abbreviation of Danske Statsbaner , is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goods transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope...
across the Great Belt on an ordinary Wednesday has risen from 11,060 seats to 37,490 seats. On Fridays the seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
exceeds 40,000 seats.
On the following stretches the shortest travel times are as follows: Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
–Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
1 hour 15 minutes, Copenhagen–Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
2 hours 30 minutes, Copenhagen–Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
3 hours 55 minutes and Copenhagen–Esbjerg
Esbjerg
Esbjerg Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Johnny Søtrup, from the Venstre political party...
2 hours 35 minutes.
The air connections Copenhagen
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
–Odense
Odense Airport
Odense Airport is a small airport servicing the Danish city of Odense. It is located in the village of Beldringe, north-northwest of the city. The airstrip was constructed for military purposes in the early 1940s during the German occupation of Denmark....
and Copenhagen–Esbjerg
Esbjerg Airport
Esbjerg Airport is a small airport located 5 nautical miles northeast of Esbjerg, Denmark. The airport was opened on April 4, 1971....
have been closed down, and the train has taken a leading market share between Copenhagen and Aarhus.
From an international perspective, the link — together with the Oresund Bridge
Oresund Bridge
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait.The bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the...
— provide a direct fixed connection between western Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
and northern Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, eventually connecting all parts of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
except for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
and outlying islands. Most people from Zealand still prefer taking the ferry between Puttgarden
Puttgarden
Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 km strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland....
and Rødby
Rødby
Rødby is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The former Rødby municipality covered an area of 120 km², and had a total population of 6,590...
, as it is a much shorter distance, and provides a needed break for those travelling long distance.
For cargo trains, the fixed links mean a large improvement. Cargo trains can go between Sweden and Germany, and even between Sweden and the UK. The Sweden-to-Germany ferry system is still used to some extent, owing to limited rail capacity, with heavy passenger traffic over the bridges and some single track rail in southern Denmark and northern Germany.
For passenger trains between Copenhagen and Germany, the Great Belt is used for the night trains, which are too long to fit on the ferries. For day trains on the Copenhagen-Hamburg route the Fehmarn Belt
Fehmarn Belt
Fehmarn Belt is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries operated by Scandlines connect Puttgarden and Rødby on the two islands.The strait features a...
ferries are still used, with short diesel trains.
In 2020 however, the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is expected to be completed with much of this international passenger and cargo traffic being shifted from the Great Belt Fixed Link. This more direct route would also have the effect of shortening the rail journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen from 4¾ to 3½ hours.
Toll charge
As of 2011, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows:| Vehicle | One ride | One day return | Daily commuting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard car | 220 DKK | Vary | Paid per trip via Electronic device, BroBizz, 5% discount for private use |
| Standard car | 31 EUR | — | — |
| Motorcycle | 115 DKK | — | Solo motorcycles only. Trailer combinations charged at 220 DKK |
| Motorhome, 6–10 m | 335 DKK | N/A | — |
| Tourist bus 10–20 m | 1050 DKK | N/A | — |
| Comparing with trains, shortest possible crossing of the Belt(Nyborg - Korsør): |
|||
| Train ticket | 89 DKK | 178 DKK | 1380 DKK/30 days |
Environmental effects
As concerns the water flows, the Great Belt Link must comply with the so-called zero-solution. This has been achieved by deepening parts of the Great Belt, so that the water flow cross section has been increased. This excavation compensates for the blocking effect caused by the bridge pylons and approach ramps. The conclusion of the report concerning the water flows is that the flow is now almost at the level it was at before the bridge was built.
The fixed link across the Great Belt has generated increased road traffic volume, which in itself has meant increased air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
. However, there has been significant savings in the energy consumption of the east-west traffic by switching from ferries to the fixed link. Train and car ferries consume much energy for propulsion. High-speed ferries consume large amounts of energy at high speeds. Also air transport is highly energy consuming. Domestic air travel over the Great Belt was greatly reduced after the opening of the bridge, with the former air travellers now using trains and private cars.
The larger energy consumption by ferry transport, as opposed to transport via the fixed link, is most clearly seen when comparing short driving distances from areas immediately east or west of the link. For more extended driving distances the difference in energy consumption is smaller, but any transport within Denmark’s borders that goes east–west across the link shows very clear energy savings.
During 2009, 7 large wind turbines, likely Vestas 3MWs totalling 21MW capacity, have been erected in the sea north of the island of Sprogø in order to contribute to the electrical consumption of the Great Belt Link. Their hub height are about the same level as the road deck of the suspension bridge. Part of the project was to showcase sea wind at the December 2009 Copenhagen climate meeting.
Accidents
During construction, 479 work-related accidents were reported, of which 53 resulted in serious injuries or death. At least seven workers died as a result of work-related accidents.The West Bridge has been struck by sea traffic twice. While the link was still under construction on 14 September 1993, the ferry M/F Romsø drifted off course in bad weather and hit the West Bridge.
At 19:17 on 3 March 2005, the 3,500-ton freighter M/V Karen Danielsen
M/V Karen Danielsen
The M/V Karen Danielsen, is a multipurpose container feeder, built in March 1985 by J.J. Sietas KG, at their shipbuilding yard in Hamburg-Neuenfelde, Germany, and labelled a type 111a. This ship is registered as the 970 new-build ship by J.J. Sietas KG....
crashed into the West Bridge 800 metres from Funen. All traffic across the bridge was halted, effectively cutting Denmark in two. The bridge was re-opened shortly after midnight, after the freighter was pulled free and inspectors had found no structural damage to the bridge.
The East Bridge has so far been in the clear, although on 16 May 2001, the bridge was closed for 10 minutes as the Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n 27,000-ton bulk carrier
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
Bella was heading straight for one of the anchorage structures. The ship was deflected due to a swift response from the navy.
On 5 June 2006, a maintenance vehicle burst into flames in the east-bound railway tunnel at about 21:30. Nobody was hurt; its crew of three fled to the other tunnel and escaped. The fire was put out shortly before midnight, and the vehicle was removed from the tunnel the next day. Train service resumed on 6 June at reduced speed, and normal service was restored on 12 June 2006.
External links
- Great Belt Bridge
- Great Belt bridge on en.broer.no
- Image
- Great Belt Fixed Link is at coordinates 55.326019°N 10.968475°W
