The World’s Longest Underwater Tunnel: Helpful or Harmful?
Listen to the article (New Zealand accent)
Construction has started on the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, an underwater rail and road tunnel between Germany and Denmark. When finished, it will be longer than 18km in length, the longest underwater tunnel in the world.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is the largest engineering project Denmark has ever worked on. The giant €10 billion project is part of the European Ten-T program, which aims to improve transportation links between cities around Europe.
Because the project is so important, the EU is contributing €1.1 billion to its construction.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2029. When finished, a train journey between Hamburg and Copenhagen will be 2 hours faster. It will also make train journeys from Germany to Sweden, Norway, and Finland more convenient.
However, some environmentalists strongly oppose the project. They say that the tunnel will damage plant and animal life in the area.
The Danish company building the tunnel, Femern A/s, says that the damage will only be temporary. As part of the project, the company is creating new environments for plant and animal life.
The construction company says that the tunnel will be better for the environment. With a shorter distance between cities, it will save time, energy, fuel and CO2 emissions. The EU has also labeled the project a priority.
Vocabulary13 words
- Construction
- the action of building something; creation; the action of making a building
- Engineering
- The use of science and math to design and build structures (like tunnels and bridges), machines, and systems
- Aim
- want to; intend to; try to; plan to
- Contribute
- to give something, especially money, to help achieve or provide something
- Convenient
- easy to use; doesn’t cause problems; suitable; useful; handy; helpful
- Environmentalist
- a person who fights or tries to protect the environment
- Oppose
- to go against something or fight to stop it; to disagree
- Temporary
- for a short time; not for long; limited period of time
- Environment
- the natural world, the place we live, the area around us, nature
- Energy
- fuel; electricity; power; oil
- Emissions
- gas, heat or light that is released or sent out; often refers to pollution from burning fuel
- Label
- to put in a certain class or category; classify; designate; describe; identify
- Priority
- most important; regarded or treated as more important than others; preference;
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