Fehmarnbelt Tunnel: Green Light for Tunnel Construction on the German Side
Major Success Before the German Federal Administrative Court: All Appeals Against Construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel Dismissed
On 3 November 2020, the German Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig dismissed all appeals against the planning approval decision for the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel, thus giving the green light for tunnel construction in Germany.
Illustration of the portal area at Puttgarden on Fehmarn after construction
Credit/Quelle: Femern A/S
Seven Appeals Against the Planning Approval Decision Dismissed or Ended by Settlement
Seven lawsuits against the planning approval decision were heard at the end of September and the beginning of October at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. The complaints had been filed by the nature conservation organisation "Naturschutzbund Deutschland", an "Alliance against a fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt", three ferry companies, the city of Fehmarn and a private land owner. The joint action by the town of Bad Schwartau and the municipalities of Scharbeutz and Großenbrode was already terminated in May 2020 by a settlement initiated by the court. Finally, an out-of-court settlement was also reached with the private land owner during the ongoing proceedings, so that they could be concluded by a mutual declaration of settlement.
The 9th Senate of the Federal Administrative Court rejected the objections raised by the plaintiffs, which totalled more than 4000 pages. Among other things, the plaintiffs had questioned the traffic forecasts of Femern A/S and the financing model. However, the court did not see any need for improvement on these points. The highest administrative court in Germany has now given the green light for the construction of the German part of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel
Tunnel Element Factory in Rødbyhavn To Be Built in 2021
After extensive investigations in the fields of environment, traffic, tunnel safety, geotechnics and safety of shipping traffic, the planning approval decision for the German part of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel was issued at the beginning of 2019. A construction permit for the Danish part of the tunnel has been available since 2015.
The construction site on Lolland in Denmark is now largely developed. Since mid-June this year, the 1.5 km long piers have been under construction off the Danish coast to protect the future working port on the Danish island from waves. In 2021, construction of the tunnel element factory in Rødbyhavn will begin.
