The boring works will take place on land as well as at sea in a 2 km wide corridor east of the ferry ports at Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden. The boring depth will be a maximum of 100 m below the sea bed or ground level.

The purpose of the boring is to extract high quality soil samples and to measure strength and other important soil characteristics.

The extracted samples will be carefully sealed and stored in refrigerated containers for subsequent transport to a laboratory for advanced testing.

Together with the previous seismic investigations and geoelectrical measurements, the results of the boring work will provide a better understanding of the ground conditions – i.e. the location and nature of the different soil layers.

It is crucial for the future Fehmarnbelt project that engineers have accurate and detailed knowledge of the soil layers upon which the structure will be founded. The result of the ground investigations will also contribute significantly to the final decision concerning the link’s alignment.

The boring works will be carried out by the highly specialised Dutch contractor Fugro Engineers BV on behalf of Femern A/S.

Fugro Engineers are expected to start the work around 1 July when the necessary permission has been obtained and will continue into the autumn. By way of a personal letter, Femern A/S has informed the ten owners (six on Fehmarn in Germany and four on Lolland in Denmark) on whose land the boring works will be conducted.

The boring works will resume in the spring of 2010 and be completed in the autumn of 2010.

The initial planning work for the Fehmarnbelt link will extend over the next three to four years after which the actual construction work will begin.

The aim is for the fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt to be ready for commissioning in 2018.