The last major area of unexploded mines left over from the Second World War is being cleared at Skallingen, a peninsula off of Jutland. Occupying German forces laid the mines along the west coast of Jutland to prevent enemy troop landings near the strategically important port of Esbjerg. About 7,000 landmines remain buried in the sand at Skallingen.
The mine-clearing operation is one of the most difficult ever carried out anywhere in the world because the environment along Denmark's North Sea coast is extremely sensitive and covered by various preservation regulations. Mines may be buried under dunes up to 11 metres high, and the mine-clearers can only work for a limited period.
In addition, the work must be completed to a very tight schedule. The first sector of the beach had to be cleared in only one month, and a total of three million m2 of sand - equal to 417 full-size football fields - must be cleared by 2008."Clearing the mines is not the hard part," says Bo Bischoff, project manager with the Danish Coastal Authority. "The hard part is sifting through such a vast volume of sand and ensuring that we don't miss any mines." Bischoff adds, "The heavy winter storms that strike this stretch of coastline can cause the mines to erode and the detonators to detach. You can liken it to being in a sandpit filled with hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of sand, in which you must find objects no bigger than your little finger."
Many of the mines were cleared after the war and today, Denmark's Defence Command estimates that about five per cent of the remaining 7,000 mines are active. In other words, some 350 are still potential killers. By Christina Tækker, cht@cowi.dk Published: 27.10.2006
For a transitional period, COWI served as contract manager for the Danish Coastal Authority. COWI has also conducted a Nature 2000 environmental consequence assessment aimed at preserving animal and plant species. COWI has also played a part in establishing a terrain model based on aerial laser readings and old aerial photos. By creating composite pictures in 3D format, it is possible to identify locations where the coastline has altered over the years. It is also possible to show how Skallingen will look on completion of the mine-clearing activities.
The Danish Coastal Authority, an institution under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Transport and Energy, is responsible for Denmark's national coastal and harbour areas. It owns the mined area at Skallingen and is involved in planning, coordinating and heading the work of clearing the beach and dunes of mines.