Nordhavnsvej – the largest road construction project in Copenhagen in 50 years

The project for “Nordhavnsvej” is the first stage of a new road to Copenhagen’s Nordhavn (North Harbour). Nordhavn is an old industrial and port area, planned to be developed into a new urban area in the north-eastern part of Copenhagen. When fully developed, the urban area is planned for 40,000 residents and 40,000 workplaces.

The project for Nordhavnsvej connects Helsingør (Elsinore) motorway with Strandvænget close to the Svanemølle Harbour (an existing marina). The road / tunnel project will be opened for traffic by the end of 2017.

Nordhavnsvej project facts

Nordhavnsvej is in total approximately 1.7 km long and consists of:

A west-facing interchange connecting the road to at the Helsingør motorway
800 m long open stretch of road
900 m long cut & cover concrete tunnel
An east-facing interchange at Strandvænget by the Svanemølle harbour
A preparation for connection of the future Nordhavn Tunnel, as a blind tunnel end

The road tunnel has two tubes, each with two 3.5 m wide lanes and two 1 m wide paved shoulders. The road tunnel meets the requirements in the European Tunnel Directive, including all safety requirements.

The link is expected, with a full developed Nordhavn, to be used by up to 60,000 vehicles per day.

Largest infrastructure project in decades

Nordhavnsvej is by far the largest infrastructure project in Copenhagen in decades, and it will have extensive consequences for the urban planning in this region. Ramboll has assisted the client - the Municipality of Copenhagen - in all aspects and in all design and construction phases such as road and tunnel design, road and traffic planning, environmental impact assessment, geotechnical engineering, economics etc. Ramboll has also been deeply involved in communicating the complicated technical results to the public at several citizens’ meetings, especially in the planning phase.

Next stage: The Nordhavnsvej Tunnel

The second stage of the link to Nordhavn, "The Nordhavn Tunnel", will be connected to the Nordhavnsvej project at the blind tunnel end, immediately west of the coastline by the Svanemølle harbour.

This next stage will be crossing under the existing Svanemølle harbour and continue in tunnel under part of Nordhavn, where the road via ramps will be connected to the planned future infrastructure in Nord Harbour. Ramboll is presently assisting the Danish Road Directorate with the EIA investigations for the Nordhavn Tunnel. Furthermore Ramboll will assist Vejdirektoratet in preparing tender design and construction supervision with the Nordhavn Tunnel. Nordhavnsvej, together with the upcoming Nordhavn Tunnel might be the first part of the future Eastern Ring Road which will connect Helsingørmotorvejen with the motorway to Copenhagen Airport.