Belgium’s Besix and Denmark’s MT Højgaard broke ground last week on a €346m contract to extend the Nordhavn Tunnel in Copenhagen for the Danish Road Directorate (Vejdirektoratet).

The joint venture won the project last September.

Danish transport minister Thomas Danielsen attended the ceremony with Copenhagen Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen on 11 May.

Over the next 60 months, Besix and MT Højgaard will build the 1.4km cut-and-cover road tunnel from Svanevænget across the Svanemøllehavn harbour and out to Nordhavn.

They will cast the tunnel sections in-situ.

The tunnel is intended to give better access to new neighbourhoods in Nordhavn. It will connect Østerbro with outer Nordhavn, improve access to port activities in the area and move heavy traffic away from the rest of the road network in Østerbro.

Some 700m of the link will be under water.

The scope of works also cover local roads and junctions connecting with the tunnel, as well as mechanical and electrical installations and several traffic control and monitoring systems.

Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen said the tunnel “will greatly benefit Copenhagen residents and contribute to the expansion of Nordhavn as a thriving neighbourhood with thousands of residents and jobs.