1. Rosmolenweg 20
P.O. Box 209, 3350 AE Papendrecht
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)78 - 69 69 099
Fax: +31 (0)78 - 69 69 555
E-mail: general@hydronamic.nl
Internet: www.hydronamic.nl
Client: Öresundkonsortiet
Location: Øresund, Denmark / Sweden
Period: 1995 - 1998
Port and Waterway Engineering, Project Development
The Øresund Tunnel
Location map.
Artist’s impression of the Øresund Link.
Introduction
The Øresund Tunnel forms part of the
Øresund Link that will connect the
cities of Copenhagen in Denmark and
Malmö in Sweden across the Øresund.
The Link, which will comprise a
motorway and a railway, consists of
three different construction elements:
• A man-made peninsula adjacent to
Copenhagen airport (Kastrup) and a 4
km long man-made island (called
Peberholm) located roughly in the
middle of the Øresund;
• The world’s longest immersed tunnel
of 3,520 metres, positioned between
the peninsula and Peberholm;
• A bridge of 7.8 km length between
the artificial island and the Swedish
coast near Malmö.
The decision to construct the Link was
taken by the Danish and Swedish
governments after lengthy discussions,
mainly about the environmental aspects
of the works.
The Link is being built under design &
construct contracts, and will be
operated by Øresundkonsortiet who will
charge a toll. The opening of the Link is
scheduled for 2000.
The tunnel project
In mid-1995 Øresundkonsortiet signed
a contract with the Øresund Tunnel
Contractors for the design and
construction of the tunnel.
The partners in Øresund Tunnel
Contractors (ØTC) Joint Venture are:
• NCC AB from Sweden,
• E. Phil & Søn A.S. from Denmark,
• Dumez-GTM S.A. from France,
• John Laing Construction Ltd. from
Great Britain
• Boskalis Westminster Dredging BV
from Holland.
Special aspects of tunnel construction
In response to the limited available
construction time ØTC developed an
innovative way of construction which,
in particular, was designed to minimise
risks resulting from the Scandinavian
weather conditions.
0 5 km
Denmark
Sweden

2. Multi Purpose Pontoon MPP.
Tunnel element before immersion.
Typical design features:
• Simultaneous construction of two
tunnel segments on two covered
production lines, in a casting yard at
land level
• Casting of a 2,500 m3 segment in
one continuous 24 hour cast
• Sluicing the completed elements
down from land to sea level by use of
a lock
• Preparation of a gravel bed foundation
for tunnel elements in the dredged
trench, using the Boskalis scrading®
method
• Use of satellite navigation for
transport and for tunnel element
immersion
On behalf of ØTC, Hydronamic
executed various engineering tasks
during the design phase of the project:
• Design of the gravel bed foundation,
including construction method
• Design of the survey system to verify
acceptability of the gravel bed
• Design of the stone protection layer
on top of the tunnel, including
required filter construction
• Supervision of model tests in the local
hydraulic laboratories (DHI)
• Development of immersion equipment
• Development of the QA (work-)
procedures for the marine works
• Development of the Multi Purpose
Pontoon (MPP) for ØTC.
The design
The tunnel cross-section consists of
two dual-carriage motorway bores,
with a service annex escape gallery in
between, and two single-track railway
bores. The total width of the tunnel is
38.65 m, with a height of 8.55 m.
Twenty 176 m long elements will form
a straight tunnel of 3,520 m.
The maximum construction depth is
approx. 22 m below water, while the
future navigation depth over the tunnel
will be dredged to -10 m.
A complicating factor at this site is the
behaviour of the current.
There is hardly any tidal variation but a
very complex current system exists in
the Little Belt, Great Belt and the
Øresund.
The most accurate current prediction
system available can only predict up to
12 hrs. ahead.
This limits the flexibility of operations,
necessitating strict management based
on step-by-step, ‘go or no go’ decision-
making.
Multi Purpose Pontoon
The purpose designed and built Multi
Purpose Pontoon has the following
tasks:
• Cleaning the dredged trench
• Construction of the gravel bed
• Survey of the gravel bed for
acceptance
• Repair and maintenance of the gravel
bed, when required
• Backfill of trench with sand and
stone material
• Construction of filter and armour
layers
Basically all functions are performed
with a fall-pipe, moving sideways along
the pontoon, while material is supplied
on a conveyer belt system. Depending
on the task to be performed different
tools are fixed to the bottom of the
fall-pipe, namely a gravel scrading unit,
sand chute or vortex clean-up unit, all
purpose designed and built.
The survey
Boskalis, in co-operation with Geocon
Holland Inc. are responsible for the
immersion survey works.
Transport and immersion of elements
are fully controlled through DGPS
navigation. Coordinates of antennas
are, via the command tower and access
shaft, transferred down to the element,
providing very accurate placement
information. For leveling of the gravel
bed a horizontally rotating laser-plane is
established, to provide even greater
accuracy. Ground bed sounding is
made with two rows of five 1 Mhz.
transducers, placed on the sides of the
scrading unit. On line corrections are
implementated for
water salinity variations.
Transport route of the tunnel elements.
0 1 2 3 4 5 km