Great Belt Fixed Link

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The Great Belt Bridge (The East Bridge)
The East Bridge as seen from the Zealand side.
Official name	Østbroen
Carries	Motor vehicles
Crosses	Great Belt
Maintained by	A/S Storebælt
Design	Suspension bridge
Piers in water	19
Longest span	1,624 metres (5,328 ft)
Total length	6,790 metres (22,277 ft)
Width	31 metres (102 ft)
Height	254 metres (833 ft)
Clearance below	65 metres (213 ft)
Opening date	June 14, 1998
Coordinates	55°20′31″N 11°02′10″E / 55.34194, 11.03611

The Great Belt Fixed Link (Danish: Storebæltsforbindelsen) 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).

The link replaces the ferries which had been the primary means of crossing Great Belt for more than 100 years. After decades of speculation and debate, the decision to construct the link was made in 1986; while it was originally intended 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 (1998 prices), the link is the largest construction project in Danish history.

The everyday operation and maintenance of the link is done by the company A/S Storebælt under Sund & Bælt. In order to pay back the construction expenses, the road connection is a toll road, and train operators pay a fixed toll per train in order to cross. The link has reduced travel times significantly; previously taking about an hour by ferry, Great Belt can now be crossed in about 10 minutes.

1 History
2 Construction
3 Traffic implications
- 3.1 Toll charge
4 Environmental effects
5 Accidents
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

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Construction on the Great Belt Fixed Link commenced in 1988. In 1991, the Finnish State sued Denmark at the International Court of Justice. The reason was that the Finnish-built mobile offshore drilling units would have been unable to pass beneath the bridge. The two countries however negotiated a financial compensation of 90 million Danish krones to be paid, Finland withdrew the lawsuit and the issue was solved.^[1]

[edit] Construction

The construction of the fixed link across the Great Belt 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 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 East Bridge as seen from below.

The East Bridge seen from the top of eastern pylon

[edit] The East Bridge

Built between 1991 and 1998, the East Bridge (Østbroen) is a road suspension bridge between Halsskov and Sprogø. It is 6,790 metres (22,277 ft) long with a free span of 1,624 metres (5,328 ft), making it the world's third longest suspension bridge span, surpassed only by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan and the Xihoumen Bridge in China. 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). 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.

The West Bridge
The West bridge (foreground) as seen from Funen.
Official name	Vestbroen
Carries	Motor vehicles, trains
Crosses	Great Belt
Maintained by	A/S Storebælt
Design	Box girder bridge
Piers in water	62
Longest span	110 metres (361 ft)
Total length	6,611 metres (21,690 ft)
Width	25 metres (82 ft)
Clearance below	18 metres (59 ft)
Opening date	June 1, 1997 (rail traffic) June 14, 1998 (road traffic)
Coordinates	55°18′42″N 10°54′23″E / 55.31167, 10.90639

[edit] The West Bridge

The West Bridge (Vestbroen) is a box girder bridge between Sprogø and Knudshoved. It is 6,611 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.

[edit] The tunnel

The twin bored tunnel tubes of the East Tunnel (Østtunnelen) are 8 kilometres (5.0 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.

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 destroyed two of the four drilling machines, but no workers were injured. Only by drilling refrigeration hoses down into the sea bed and freezing the bottom was it possible to dry out the pipes, remove the defunct machines and complete the drilling from the Zealand side.

[edit] Traffic implications

The bridge on a clear day

Prior to the opening of the link, an average of 8,000 cars used the ferries across the Great Belt every day. In 2006, an average of 27,600 cars travelled the link each day^[2]. 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 finally the so-called traffic leap, that is, new traffic generated by the improved ease, facility and low 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.

Great Belt Bridge

Site of Great Belt Bridge in Denmark

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 connection between Copenhagen and Odense has 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 still prefer taking the ferry between Puttgarden and Rødby, as it is a much shorter drive, and provides a needed break for those driving 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 2018 however, the Fehmarn Belt bridge is expected to be completed and much of this international passenger and cargo traffic would be shifted from the Great Belt Fixed Link to the Fehmarn Belt bridge. This more direct route would also have the effect of shortening the rail journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen from 4¾ to 3½ hours.

[edit] Toll charge

As of 2007, the toll for driving the fixed link is as follows:

Vehicle	One ride	One day return	Daily commuting
Standard car	205 DKK	360 DKK	Paid per trip via Electronic device, BroBizz, 5% discount for private use
Standard car	29 EUR	—	—
Motorcycle	110 DKK	—	Solo motorcycles only. Trailer combinations charged at 205 DKK
Motorhome, 6–10 m	310 DKK	N/A	—
Tourist bus	970 DKK	N/A	—
Comparing with trains, shortest possible crossing of the Belt:
Train ticket	78 DKK	156 DKK	1380 DKK/30 days

[edit] Environmental effects

The East Bridge as seen from above.

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.

[edit] Accidents

During construction 479 work related accidents were reported of which 53 were due to serious injuries or fatal accidents^[3]. At least 7 workers were killed due to work related accidents^[4].

The West Bridge has been struck by sea traffic twice. While the link was still under construction on September 14, 1993, the ferry M/F Romsø drifted off course in bad weather and hit the West Bridge.

At 19:17 on March 3, 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 closed, effectively separating Denmark in two. It was re-opened shortly after midnight, after the freighter was pulled free and inspectors had found no structural damage to the bridge.^[5]

The East bridge has so far been in the clear, although on May 16, 2001, the bridge was closed for 10 minutes as the Cambodian 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.^[6]

On June 5, 2006, a maintenance vehicle burst into flames in the east-bound railway tunnel at about 21:30. Nobody was hurt; its crew, three men, 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 June 6 at reduced speed, and normal service on June 12, 2006.