The signing of large infrastructure contracts usually is followed by hectic activity. By contrast, the winning of contracts for the Femern Link, an $8-billion European program to construct the world’s longest immersed-tube tunnel, has been followed by a period of quiet. Designed to connect Denmark and Germany and open for traffic in 2028, the 18-kilometer-long design-build project is in hibernation while permitting on the German side makes slow progress.
International firms such as Copenhagen-based COWI A/S, which became the contractors’ lead design consultant this past March, are keen to get on with the massive underwater tunnel. It is among the largest-ever Danish infrastructure jobs and “one of the biggest-ever projects won by the company,” says Lars-Peter Søbye, COWI’s president and CEO. Winning the design contract “means we have taken all [Denmark’s] fixed links … this was a must-win,” he adds.