Estonia goes ahead with preliminary studies on bridge or tunnel to Saaremaa
19.08.2008, 08:07Estonian Road Administration has held the
first meeting with Finland’s consultancy WSP Finland that is studying the
possibility to build a bridge or tunnel to Saaremaa.
Postimees writes that WSP Finland OY will start actual work in September. In
the next 16 months the company will carry out 11 different environmental
studies, a socio-economic and financial analysis.
In July ERA contracted WSP Finland for EEK 13.5 million to put together a
plan about the perspective organisation of helping passengers and products cross
Suure strait and strategic evaluation of environmental impact.
Finnish consultants will compare ferry transit with the benefits of a
constant transport link such as a bridge or a tunnel.
In 2005 the Danish consultancy Ramboll recommended to build a concrete
pre-tensioned bridge between Saaremaa and mainland. Ramboll said that it would
be the cheapest solution for a 7.1 kilometer bridge/tunnel connecting Estonia
and Saaremaa.
Ramboll has engineered the bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden which it says
was similar in many ways to the project in Estonia.