Alignment will cause least possible im-pact on environment

The corridor was determined following a process that aimed to establish where the link would have least impact on people, the cultural heritage and the environment.

With this in mind and in accordance with German practice, an environmental sensitivity analysis has been prepared for the coast-to-coast section.

The analysis considers people, animals, plants, bio-diversity, soil, water, climate, air and the landscape as well as cultural and economic values.

Sensitivity to residents and the environment
For each factor, the extent of the environmental impact from the construction work and the completed structure was assessed based on current legislation, planning objectives and evaluations by experts.

As part of the assessment, the individual components were classified according to sensitivity. In some sections, the construction work or the completed facility may cause such an impact that the alignment must be redrawn e.g. in residential areas with strict limits on noise from construction work or traffic.

In other sections, the construction work can be carried out under special conditions. This may, for instance, apply if the alignment conflicts with local planning because the alignment impacts on areas containing dikes, dunes, pathways or resting birds.

The environmental sensitivity analysis is an important component of Femern A/S’ application to the German authorities for the overall, physical location of the facility.

Some impacts are inevitable
Finding a corridor from coast-to-coast where the environment will not be affected at all is impossible. Femern A/S envisages, therefore, that mitigating measures will have to be undertaken in certain areas during the construction work. These measures are described in greater detail in the EIA statement for the coast-to-coast project.