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Fehmarn sees first immersed tube element in place


CRCHI TBM moved whole over valley ITALY - An EPB TBM manufactured by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Ltd (CRCHI) recently completed an integral jacking and bridge-crossing without disassembly of the shield for a project in Sicily. The achievement with the


9.36m-diameter machine was made on the Messina-Catania railway project. CRCHI says the process saves labour, material resources and costs required for the disassembly, transport and reassembly of large-diameter TBMs. Section 2 of the Messina-Catania


project consists of two sections with twin-tube and double-track layout, and a total tunnel length of approximately 12.54km. The original plan after breakthrough


Femern Link Contractors have immersed the first element for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel. PHOTO CREDIT: Femern A/S


DENMARK - The first of the 217m-long concrete tunnel elements for the Fehmarnbelt project - the world’s longest immersed tube tunnel - has been lowered into position on the seabed. After a multi-day operation,


the first of a total of 89 huge concrete elements was immersed. The project has been casting the elements in production lines inside a dedicated concreting factory - another world’s largest of its kind. The colossal civil engineering


undertakings are needed to construct the almost 18km-long, undersea tunnel that forms the key part of a combined road and rail link between Denmark and Germany. The project itself is on one of Europe’s strategic transport corridors and so has some funding support from the EU. Each 217m-long element weighs


more than 73,500 tonnes. The elements are divided into five long cells – two for the future motorway, two for the railway, and one for technical installations. The operation to take the first


of the Fehmarn concrete elements to sea and lower the massive structure into position, into a prepared seabed trench, has been long awaited. In early May the operation began. Five tugboats


and the special immersion vessel, ‘IVY’, transported the first concrete element from the holding harbour outside the coastal concreting factory, located at Rødbyhavn on the Danish island of Lolland. The immersion point was off the


Danish coast, in front of the Danish portal for the fixed tunnel link. The immersion itself began


at around noon 6 May and took approximately 14 hours to precisely place the giant tunnel element in the trench. The element was then connected to the portal using hydraulic arms. The position was confirmed by laser measurements inside the immersed tunnel element. Later in the day, IVY was released from the element. “We are both happy and


relieved. Our technology, our equipment and our contractors have demonstrated their capabilities and achieved something no-one has done before,” said Mikkel Hemmingsen, chief executive with Sund & Bælt, which owns the development company Femern A/S. Next task is to cover around


the element with gravel to help ensure it is further weighed securely into position in the trench, and to provide protection to the structure.


of the first tube was to move the machine to the opposite side of the valley by disassembly, transport, and reassembly for the next drive. The terrain restricted that option and an alternative of employing an integral bridge-crossing - for the whole equipment - was developed.


LA okays K Line Extension US - Los Angeles Metro’s board has voted to advance the underground K Line Northern Extension along the San Vincente-Fairfax alignment. The 16.1km-long route will extend


the K Line from Crenshaw/Expo to Hollywood. It will have 10 stations and connect Metro rail lines B, C, D, E, and K. At a meeting in March, the Metro


board chose the alignment as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). It is now contingent on the formation of an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District by the City of West Hollywood in co-ordination with LA County to provide additional local funding to help build the project under the Early Project Delivery Strategy. The board says the project will help


transform the existing system from a spoke-and-wheel to a grid, allowing passengers to transfer between lines without going to downtown Los Angeles. Construction of the original K Line – then


called the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project – began in 2014 and the line opened in 2022. In 2016, voters approved funding for the northern extension. Metro anticipates that construction will commence in 2041 and the extension will open between 2047-2049.


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