In Copenhagen, the preparatory work for the the capital's largest infrastructure project is underway: Lynetteholmen. In the coming decades, a seven-kilometre-long peninsula is to be built on the northern approach to the harbour, Ydre Nordhavn, to create additional space for housing and local recreation. In view of the growing challenges posed by climate change, it also has a protective function against storm surges. A total of 275 hectares of usable land (equivalent to 85 football pitches) will be reclaimed from the Baltic Sea.
To this end, a stone boundary will first be constructed, which will then be filled with rubble as the project progresses. This boundary will be constructed in two phases, the first of which has already been completed: the southern connection of Lynetteholmen to the existing Refshaleøen peninsula. Work is now underway on the far more extensive phase 2, which will enclose the water area to the north, so that the main waterway, Kronløbet, will in future resemble a canal, the northern bank of which will be formed by the new district of Nordhavn. But even though the completion of Lynetteholmen is still a long way off, the construction work is already leading to permanent changes for shipping traffic.
Pleasure craft are particularly affected, as the old connection between Öresund and Langelinie (with the pleasure craft harbour there) is now permanently closed. A special traffic regulation now applies to the remaining Kronløbet: while incoming and outgoing commercial shipping continues to use the main channel, a separate second fairway has been set up for pleasure craft on its southern edge.
Bins and light signals for safe traffic
Its starboard side is marked with green buoys, the port side with the yellow buoys of the construction site boundary. Traffic lights have also been installed on both the seaward and inland sides: Three red flashing lights on top of each other mean that the passage is temporarily prohibited for leisure shipping. A sign at the former inland access to Lynetteløbet indicates the permanent closure. The seaward approach to Margretheholms Havn will remain possible, but will also be secured by a safety gate.
According to current plans, it will be decades before Lynetteholmen is completed - with residential neighbourhoods for up to 30,000 people and a very naturally designed waterfront area with sandy beaches and a strip of coastal forest typical of the Baltic Sea. The target date is 2070.
