International Consortia applyfor Fehmarnbelt Tenders

After several years of thorough preparation, Femern A/S has received a total of 17 tenders from nine international contractors or consortia wishing to participate in the construction of the world’s longest immersed tunnel. The tenders, which have been submitted by some of the world’s leading experts, set out how the project can be accomplished within the framework defined by Femern A/S. As the project involves groundbreaking technology, the contractors have been afforded significant scope for innovative ideas in their tenders.

Four large Construction Contracts

The future fixed link between Rødby and Puttgarden is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. Due to its size and complexity, the project is divided up into four large construction contracts, each of which will create thousands of jobs.

The four contracts cover the dredging of the 18 km and 12 m deep trench in the seabed, the construction of the northern and southern ends of the tunnel and the establishment of the adjacent facilities on both the German and Danish sides.

Some of the consortia have chosen to tender for the whole project whereas others have decided to focus on certain tasks. Over the coming months, Femern A/S will analyse the tenders with a view to engaging in a subsequent dialogue with the contractors. When Femern A/S has assessed the technical tenders and the dialogue is completed, the contractors will begin to calculate prices. Femern A/S expects to receive these in December 2014, so that a realistic construction sum for the works can be incorporated into the proposal for the Construction Act, which the Danish parliament, Folketinget, will consider at the beginning of 2015.

Tendering for the electrical and mechanical installations

The preparation for the construction of the immersed tunnel has already entered its next phase, as the tendering for the electrical and mechanical installations has begun. The equipment and installations include ventilation of the tunnel and buildings, safety doors, fire prevention systems, drainage, electrical wiring and pipes, elevators, transformers, lightning, monitoring and control systems as well as communication systems.

The client, Femern A/S, has already received applications from six major contractor consortia who wish to be prequalified to work on the electrical and mechanical installations in the tunnel. The six consortia comprise 17 companies from eight countries. In addition to Denmark and Germany, applications have been received from the UK, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France and Austria.

The contract, has a value of approximately 500 million Euro and will require large-scale resources and technical expertise. ”It is very gratifying that interest in this contract has been so great. This is a very extensive contract of several years duration. With so many bids, we can be sure that we will find the best supplier to take on these very important and complex tasks,” says Steen Lykke, Technical Directors at Femern A/S.

Work on the electrical and mechanical installations is expected to begin in 2016, and the contractor will be responsible for the maintenance of the facility in the first years following the completion of the tunnel in 2021.