The Great Belt Link will replace one of the most efficient ferry links in Scandinavia, which have hitherto been essential for providing transport between the eastern and western parts of Denmark. It will reduce travel time between them by about an hour. More important, the Link will provide a rail and road connection between Zealand and Funen, the two largest islands in Denmark, and directly link Copenhagen and the European Continent. From Funen to the island of Sprogo in the middle of the Belt, a 6.6km long rail-road bridge has been built. Sprogo has been enlarged artificially to enable two parallel 8km long railway tunnels to be bored and a 6.8km long road suspension bridge to be built from Sprogo to Zealand. 4km of additional railway and road were built to connect with the existing rail and road systems on both sides of the Belt. The following stages are planned for the technical testing and traffic commissioning of the Link projects: (1) up to 1 November 1996, intermediate tests of individual equipment items and static tests of the systems and subsystems; (2) from 1 November 1996 to 1 February 1997, technical tests of moving trains; and (3) from 1 February to 1 June 1997, traffic commissioning. There are also `fall back' strategies. Eight lessons from the Channel Tunnel project have been applied.
Samenvatting