German-Danish Bridge Plan Stokes Concerns

Seen alternately as a technical marvel or potential money pit, a proposed 12-mile bridge across the Baltic also is raising big environmental worries

By Philip Bethge

The eavesdropping operation on the harbor porpoise is pure drudgery. On a gray, rainy day, five biologists from the consulting firm BioConsult SH hoist bright yellow marker buoys over the stern of the Miljø into the Baltic Sea.

When the task is complete and the buoys are bobbing in the water behind the research ship, BioConsult head Georg Nehls looks satisfied. From now on, underwater microphones will record the tell-tale, staccato clicking noises the porpoises make to get their bearings. The signals help the researchers determine the number of animals and examine their behavior.

The eavesdropping operation has only one objective. The zoologists are trying to figure out whether these marine mammals would be able to tolerate a major construction site in their immediate environment. Europe's biggest transportation project is about to begin off the shores of Denmark's Lolland Island. A 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge, or a tunnel that would be no less imposing, is planned between Rødby in Denmark and Puttgarden on the German island of Fehmarn.

The crossing, expected to be complete by 2018 at the latest, would directly connect Germany with Denmark, replacing the Scandlines ferries, which currently operate along the route once every half hour.

The benefits are obvious: no seasickness and no waiting at the dock, as well as shortening the drive from Hamburg to Copenhagen by one hour.

German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and his Danish counterpart Carina Christensen signed a treaty on the construction of a link between the two countries last September. Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag, is scheduled to vote on the measure this Thursday.

A Project of "Historic Dimensions" or "Money Pit"?

Supporters of the plan, like Jörn Biel, the nonpartisan economics minister of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, characterize it as a project of "historic dimensions." Critics, on the other hand, deride the planned structure as a "connection between two rapeseed fields" and worry that it could turn into an economic and environmental disaster. "Most members of parliament don't even know what it is they're voting on," says Rainder Steenblock, the Green Party's spokesman on European policy. "The project could turn into a very expensive money pit for Germany."

From a technical standpoint, the structure is anything if not impressive. The favored version is a suspension bridge, 65 meters (213 feet) high, supported by four pylons, each 280 meters (918 feet) tall. The bridge's steel cables would be designed to carry a four-lane highway and two rail lines. For the Danes, whose parliament ratified the treaty in March, it would be the "project of the century." In Berlin, on the other hand, there are few firm supporters of the crossing. The main reason for this lack of enthusiasm is that the original idea to secure private investors for the project was a complete failure. In late 2006, all potential investors withdrew their support, citing a lack of reliable financial forecasts.

Transportation Minister Tiefensee turned over the colossal project to the Danes, probably in the hope that it would be buried as a result. But Copenhagen surprised the Germans by jumping on the idea. Under the new deal, Denmark will pay the entire cost of bridge construction, estimated at a minimum of €4.4 billion ($6.2 billion). In return, the Danes will collect EU subsidies and the estimated tolls of roughly €60 per car. Germany, for its part, will only be responsible for the so-called interior connection between Hamburg and Puttgarden.

The risk seems manageable enough, and yet the project has sparked growing doubts in Germany, partly because of the potential environmental damage it might cause.

A "Bottleneck" for Migratory Birds

"An estimated 100 million birds travel through the Fehmarn Belt each year," says Malte Siegert of the Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). He describes the region as "bottleneck" in Europe's migratory bird system, comparable with the Strait of Gibraltar or the Bosporus.

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