BORED LINK BENEATH THE GREAT BELT

The purpose of the link is to join the Danish island of Zealand to Jutland and Germany, replacing the current ferry link which carries over 20,000 passengers per day and eight million tonnes of goods per year. The link is in three main elements divided by the island of Sprogoe. The western strait will be crossed by a low level bridge for road and rail traffic; the eastern channel which carries heavy shipping will be crossed by a high level suspension bridge and twin rail tunnels. Immersed tube tunnels of United States and European design were considered as an alternative to the 7.7m internal diameter bored solution accepted. Transition sections built by cut-and-cover at each end where ground cover was limited contain large dewatered ramps to a maximum depth of 25m. Well proven techniques and designs have been used and four tunnel boring machines were specified to avoid possible delays. Details are given of the ground conditions, boring machine performance, lining and joint design. Discussions following the presentation of the paper to the British Tunnelling Society centred on the amount of information given to potential tenderers and the possibility of risk sharing. Other topics raised included finance and management. This paper consists of a report by Chris Snee of two papers presented at the British Tunnelling Society by I H Elliott and K Ostenfeld. (TRRL)