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Article

Sustainability in Infrastructure Project Management—Analysis of Two European Megaprojects

by
Baowen Lou
1,2,*,
Mahgol Afshari
3,
Agnar Johansen
1,
Freja Nygaard Rasmussen
1 and
Rolf André Bohne
1
1
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Høgskoleringen 7A, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
2
Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics, Technical University of Denmark, Lautrupvang 15, 2750 Ballerup, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
3
Trøndelag County Municipality, Erling Skakkesgate 14, 7013 Trondheim, Norway
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Infrastructures 2025, 10(5), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures10050113
Submission received: 23 March 2025 / Revised: 28 April 2025 / Accepted: 3 May 2025 / Published: 6 May 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Materials, Design, Maintenance, and Management for Transport Infrastructure)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

To implement the “Green Transition” in civil engineering, this study provides a new critical perspective analyzing the sustainability measures adopted by two European megaprojects. Government regulations and legislation, reward mechanism, technological innovations, the carbon evaluation system as well as tracking and monitoring systems are further discussed in this research to manage megaprojects in a more sustainable way. Document reviews, field trips (both exhibition area and construction sites), and in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders were conducted regarding two European megaprojects, namely the A16 Ring Road in the Netherlands and Fehmarnbelt Tunnel in Denmark, when it comes to sustainability transitions. Notwithstanding the regional limitations of the selected case studies, the results illustrate that the implemented policies and regulations promote the sustainability transitions in projects and lead to environmental and societal benefits. Among the others, the requirement to quantify the carbon emissions is a central step during the tendering and execution phases of the megaprojects. Future studies need to comprehensively address the challenges related to project management and sustainable transitions as well as delve into other possible practices implemented locally in different locations. Local policies and regulations, innovation in technology and materials as well as the quantification of environmental impacts are key aspects to accelerate such change towards carbon neutrality.

1. Introduction

The United Nations released 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to offer a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the globe. To actively address this policy, the European Green Deal aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and achieve a net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 compared with the 1990 levels [1]. In this context, infrastructures have a strategic significance to reduce such environmental brunt, as a considerable amount of global GHG emissions come from infrastructure construction and maintenance operations [2]. Moreover, it is expected that the road network will be widened by at least 25 million kilometers before 2050, thus achieving a 60% increase in the total length compared with 2010 [3].
With the progress of globalization, which has been driving a rapid expansion in the connectivity of the world’s economies and cultures since the early 20th century, more and more megaprojects are being built to meet the cooperation and development needs among countries. A megaproject is a very large-scale construction and investment to enhance trade, create economic hubs, and ensure energy and resource accessibility across borders. In addition to its connectivity function, the “climate actions” pertaining to megaprojects have been emphasized in recent years to clearly highlight the importance of new sustainability regulations [4]. To boost sustainable development, European collaboration and competitiveness, Horizon Europe, as the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation, has an indicative funding amount of EUR 93.5 billion for the 2021–2027 period to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [5]. For example, the Spanish DISCOVER project is funded for four years with a mission to transform the construction industry by harnessing emerging technologies to accelerate the twin transitions of green sustainability and digital transformation [6]. The Finnish CIRC-2-ZERO project is funded for three years with the target to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to achieve decarbonization and enhance manufacturing capabilities across the Baltic Sea region via developing the Digital Twin Demo Platform, circular product design solutions, and a network of resilience transformation hubs [7]. The concept of sustainability can be traced back to 1972 and has received widespread attention in the civil engineering sector in recent years due to the urgent demand for sustainable development [8,9]. However, a number of ongoing megaprojects were initiated many years ago and may lack the integration of sustainable measures and relevant evaluation indicators. Meanwhile, due to the inherent nature of megaprojects (e.g., large scale, extremely costly (>$1 billion), multiple public and private stakeholders involved, transformational and significant influence [10]), it is more demanding to develop and implement sustainability measures into project management. The focus of project management has also changed since Dr. Martin Barnes first introduced the Iron Triangle (Triple Constraint) in the 1960s, which highlighted the synergic effect of “on time, within budget, and according to scope” as the core elements. In recent years, more and more decision makers have realized the conflict between economic growth, social well-being, and the use of natural resources; therefore, sustainable development is becoming broadly recognized as a political, societal, and managerial challenge [11]. The projects play an instrumental role in realizing the sustainability strategies of organizations because they often affect sustainability both directly (by creating pollution or misusing resources) and indirectly (through the design of the products and services they deliver) [12]. Therefore, the evolution of project management focus nowadays needs to take sustainability into account. The main challenge lies in integrating sustainability into project management and ensuring that ongoing megaprojects can proactively align with current standards and regulations (e.g., ISO 21931 framework, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), European Green Deal) [1,13,14]. This study provides new perspectives based on field trips and in-depth interviews to demonstrate the sustainability methods in infrastructure megaprojects, bonus system, carbon evaluation tools, and other practical strategies to fill the gap between the sustainable development requirements in project management and current research and practice status.
Based on these premises, this study focused on the low-impact measures and sustainability indicators employed in the two selected megaprojects, namely the “A16 Rotterdam” project in the Netherlands and “Fehmarnbelt Tunnel” project to connect Denmark and Germany. The innovative energy saving measures and technologies, carbon budget evaluation, environmental transition actions, sustainability bonus system as well as future challenges are further discussed in this work. Leveraging the outcomes of this study, the gained sustainability experience can be extended to other megaprojects.
The research significance is summarized as follows: (i) investigate the sustainability measures in the two selected megaprojects, (ii) exploit innovative sustainable technologies and low-impact construction materials, (iii) introduce the carbon evaluation method and sustainability bonus system, and (iv) discuss further challenges related to the project management of infrastructure construction. The results can be considered as a reference for other megaprojects and sustainability legislation.

2. Significance and Methodology

2.1. Research Background

The motivation for undertaking this research is related to the megaproject “E39 Coastal Highway Route” (as shown in Figure 1), which is one of the largest ongoing projects in Norway and is directed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The E39 is envisaged as a ferry-free highway connecting the major cities on the west coast of Norway (Trondheim, Ålesund, Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand) [15,16]. This project aims to reduce the travel time from 21 h to around 11 h and lower fuel consumption by replacing seven ferry crossings with bridges, tunnels, and motorways with an investment of approximately EUR 35 billion. Due to the extensive scope and complex construction operations (e.g., floating structures, cable-stayed and suspension bridges, over-sea and under-sea tunnels), a large number of activities are being undertaken, generating a significant amount of CO2 emissions. Based on these premises, the sustainability transitions in complex infrastructure projects located in neighboring countries are critically discussed in this study, pivoting on several interviews with professionals and field trips. Two megaprojects, namely the “A16 Rotterdam” project and “Fehmarnbelt Tunnel” project, were selected as case studies for an in-depth investigation of the sustainable measures and knowledge that can be implemented in the “E39 Coastal Highway Route”.
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Figure 1. E39 Coastal Highway project [17].
Figure 1. E39 Coastal Highway project [17].
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2.2. Megaprojects Description

2.2.1. A16 Rotterdam Project

To relieve the traffic congestion clogs and improve mobility in the Rotterdam region, the Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat, RWS) plans to build up the new motorway, A16 Rotterdam. The project includes an 11 km national highway that connects the A16/A20 at Terbregseplein and the A13 at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, a 2.2 km semi-immersed tunnel that cuts through Lage Bergse Bos as well as two underpasses and three railways, which ensures the smooth integration of the new motorway with the existing rail system. This project also encompasses various other infrastructure components such as underpasses and crossings for railways.

2.2.2. Fehmarnbelt Tunnel Project

To replace the heavily busy ferry service between Denmark and Germany, the immersed Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is under construction to connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn. The immersed structure, which is 18 km located 40 m beneath the Baltic Sea, includes a two-track railroad and a four-lane motorway. The tunnel is part of the European Union’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which can contribute to enhance cross-border transportation and reduce environmental impacts. As Denmark’s largest infrastructure project and the world’s longest underwater tunnel, the new connection will remove the existing traffic bottleneck by reducing the travel time and strengthening links between Scandinavia and central Europe. Detailed information of the considered megaprojects is presented in Table 1 and Figure 2 and Figure 3.
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Figure 2. A16 Rotterdam project [18].
Figure 2. A16 Rotterdam project [18].
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Figure 3. Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project [19].
Figure 3. Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project [19].
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Table 1. Project summary [20,21].
Table 1. Project summary [20,21].
PROJECT NAMEA16 ROTTERDAM PROJECTFEHMARNBELT TUNNEL PROJECT
LocationRotterdam, the NetherlandsLolland, Denmark
Fehmern, Germany
ContractorsDe Groene Boog
(BESIX, Dura Vermeer, Van Oord, John Laing,
Rebel and TBI)		Fehmarn Belt Contractors (FBC) and Fehmarn Link Contractors (FLC)
Length11 km18 km
InvestmentEUR 984 millionEUR 7100 million
Construction schedule2019–20252021–2029
Operating speed100 km/h200 km/h
Infrastructure typeHighway, tunnel, railwayHighway, railway
HighlightsFirst energy-neutral highway tunnel worldwideLongest immersed tunnel
worldwide
ObjectiveImprove traffic flow and accessibility in the Rotterdam regionEnhance transport connectivity between Scandinavia and central Europe

3. Sustainable Measures in Megaprojects

3.1. A16 Rotterdam Project

The selected consortium in the A16 Rotterdam project was awarded based on the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) strategy, which puts sustainability at the top of the priority list [22]. The contractor De Groene Boog was selected thanks to its strong ambition to construct and maintain an energy-neutral road network in northern Rotterdam and promote a better traffic flow on the A13 and A20. The main sustainable measures related to energy consumption/carbon reduction are listed below.

3.1.1. Energy Saving Measures

As the world’s first energy-neutral motorway with a tunnel, solar panels (around 20,000 m2/tunnel) have been integrated to generate all the electricity needed for the lighting and installations along the route [23]. Residual heat is stored in the ground and can be released when required. The introduced sunlight through grills and fiber-glass panels as well as special LED lighting and light painted colors at the entrance to maximize reflection are generated as smart solutions for the lighting. Furthermore, direct current (DC) is used to replace alternating current (AC), which provides a more sustainable and reliable solution for all of the installations and systems. With these measures, the project could save 47% energy and accomplish the first energy-neutral highway tunnel in the world [24]. The electric machinery, including heavy excavators, telehandlers, asphalt machines, and lifting crawler cranes, are used during the construction phase. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel is used on a large scale (over 4 million liters) to replace diesel fuel, which contributes to 90% fewer emissions [23]. Moreover, the incremental launching method (ILM) has been employed to construct the viaducts to reduce environmental impacts.

3.1.2. Carbon Evaluation Method

As the future green road link for the Rotterdam region, ambitious commitments have been made in the areas of materials and energy usage during the tender phase. The contractor De Groene Boog, registered with CO2 Performance Ladder level 5, has set a target of a minimum 10% of CO2 reduction compared with the expected emissions under traditional construction and operation practices [23]. The CO2 Performance Ladder is a certification scheme developed in the Netherlands aimed at encouraging companies to reduce their CO2 emissions and improve their low-impact performance. The Ladder has already shown potential for international expansion (e.g., a successful pilot project in Belgium in 2019), however, there are still some challenges for applying the Ladder globally due to the regulatory and policy differences, lack of local recognition, and data verification [25]. To actively respond to these challenges, SKAO (the Dutch foundation managing the Ladder) has taken several strategic actions to internationalize the system: creating national frameworks, aligning with existing local and international climate policies, and promoting data verification. As a sustainable procurement tool, the ladder consists of the five levels as shown in Figure 4, where level 5 represents the highest degree of ambition and achievement in carbon management. Up to level 3, the organization should reduce its own carbon emissions within the organization and all of its projects. From levels 4 and 5, the organization should also curtail carbon emissions from the business chain and sector. A company that is certified to a certain level needs to meet the requirements of the CO2 Performance Ladder, which are based on four angles with different weights, namely: insight, reduction, transparency, and participation. Afterward, with a certificate on the Ladder, companies are rewarded a concrete advantage in the tendering process, and companies with level 5 certification receive the highest percentage discount. With the Ladder level 5 as the target, the De Groene Boog consortium compares and ranks the suppliers based on the environmental product declaration (EPD) they provide during the decision-making stage. EPD is a concise document providing verified and comparable environmental data for individual construction components (e.g., concrete, steel, precast elements) in accordance with the ISO 21931 framework, which supplies principles and guidelines for assessing the environmental performance of structures and infrastructures throughout their life cycle [13]. Moreover, a third party is hired to monitor and verify the product footprint. Ecochain, as a sustainability software platform, has been adopted in this project to help companies to measure, analyze, and reduce the environmental impact of the products and operations during the construction stage.
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Figure 4. CO2 performance ladder [26].
Figure 4. CO2 performance ladder [26].
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3.2. Fehmarnbelt Tunnel Project

The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will be the longest immersed tunnel and the longest combined road and rail tunnel in the world. After its construction, the tunnel is expected to cut down the travel time for drivers by about 1 h each way and for rail passengers between Copenhagen and Hamburg by about 2 h [21]. This project has the potential to become a “climate beacon” for infrastructure projects, and several measures related to energy demand and carbon emission reductions have been developed.

3.2.1. Energy Saving Measures

As a sustainable European transport network to connect Scandinavia and central Europe, a fully electrified railway will be developed and a corridor to accommodate green vehicles of the future has been requested. The project has the ambition to bring the total CO2 emissions during the construction phase to below the emissions level defined in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. Therefore, the renewable energy sources (e.g., solar power, wind power) have been integrated into the project. Meanwhile, around 73,000 trees have been planted in Lolland as a compensatory “climate forest” to absorb at least 50 tons of CO2 per year over a period of around 70 years [27,28,29]. Furthermore, the optimized ventilation system, high efficiency LED lighting, thermal insulation tunnel materials as well as emerging advanced technologies (e.g., smart energy management system, regenerative braking system, smart grid integration) will be applied to acquire energy-efficient and sustainable solutions for climate-neutral operation and maintenance of the tunnel.
Similar ecological protection and compensation strategies have also been implemented in another European project: High Speed 2 (HS2) [28]. HS2 is a major UK infrastructure project aiming to build up a high-speed railway network to improve connectivity, increase capacity, and reduce travel times between London, the Midlands, and northern England. HS2 has a strong ambition to build up a “biodiversity net gain”, which will construct over 33 km2 of green corridors (planting more than 7 million trees and shrubs) featuring woodlands, wetlands, and wildflower meadows to minimize the environmental impact and enhance biodiversity [29].

3.2.2. Carbon Evaluation Method

The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel has been designed as a long-term, sustainable investment with a service life of at least 120 years. The carbon footprint during the construction phase will be reduced compared with the baseline of 2.25 million tons CO2, therefore, the contractors need to regularly report on compliance, and Femern A/S monitors the contractors’ emissions to air, water, and soil [27]. As one of the commissioned consultant companies of Femern A/S as well as a part of the dedicated joint venture sustainability team, the British company ARUP is leading the upgrade of the carbon inventory for the construction phase to calculate the generated CO2 emissions [21]. The carbon inventory includes four steps: (1) establish baseline emissions; (2) define a net zero strategy; (3) initiate and manage; and (4) deliver, monitor, and reassess. ARUP uses GaBi software (Thinkstep AG, Berlin, Germany) and SimaPro (PRé Consultants, Amersfoort, Netherlands) to facilitate the comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts and quantify carbon emissions to support sustainable decision-making. Meanwhile, a digital platform, CRISP, has been developed for property owners and investors to evaluate their assets for risks related to excessive carbon emissions, which is also called “stranding risk” [22].
As the world’s longest immersed tunnel, the respect for nature and the environment is of vital importance in the construction and eventual operation phase. Therefore, the DHI team, namely the consortium leader of the Fehmarnbelt Environmental Monitoring and Consultancy, FEMO, has developed the data portal ÆGIR to help Femern A/S publicly communicate, share, and visualize real-time monitoring data collected by sensors and reports accompanying the environmental assessments [30]. Based on the environmental portal ÆGIR, the “compensation nature” strategy was developed and applied on land and at sea to ensure that nature is restored to a good condition. Table 2 and Figure 5 exhibit the compensation nature on the Fehmarnbelt project [27].
Table 2. Compensation nature on the Fehmarnbelt project (1 ha = 10,000 m2) [27].
Table 2. Compensation nature on the Fehmarnbelt project (1 ha = 10,000 m2) [27].
PLACETYPEAFFECTED NATURENEW NATURE TO BE ESTABLISHEDNEW NATURE ESTABLISHED
(UNTIL 2023)
LOLLANDPonds1037–4220
Beach/meadow/
dry grassland		29.2 ha116.9 ha58.4 ha
Marsh0.5 ha1.5 ha1.5 ha
Watercourses3.3 km3.3 km2.6 km
FEHMARNStone reefs 42.5 ha–
Areas taken out of intensive farming 172.5 ha172.5 ha
Other compensation measures –51.5 ha
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Figure 5. Compensation nature activities in the Fehmarnbelt project: a replacement lake to increase the number of bird species (a) and planting a climate forest (b).
Figure 5. Compensation nature activities in the Fehmarnbelt project: a replacement lake to increase the number of bird species (a) and planting a climate forest (b).
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4. Results and Discussion

Sustainable development has been a hot topic in recent years and has attracted great attention from different domains, thus promoting the formulation of relevant legislations and standards. This urgent need for low-impact societal transition also brings challenges and opportunities for megaprojects that might have been initiated many years ago. Investors, contractors, and other stakeholders are required to adjust their development strategies to meet sustainable goals; in this context, a number of sustainable measures, evaluation, and bonus systems are being implemented.
Both the megaprojects presented in this study determined the carbon footprint performance using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. LCA is defined as the systematic analysis of the potential environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of a product, which includes the product stage (A1–A3), construction stage (A4–A5), use stage (B1–B7), end-of-life-stage (C1–C4), and supplementary information beyond the building life cycle (D) [31]. The inclusion of stage D in LCA calculations is still under discussion, but has already been applied in the A16 Rotterdam project. Furthermore, this project utilizes the 7R principles (Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Regift, and Recycle) to facilitate a circular economy, sustainable practices, and environmental responsibility during the design stage.
While LCA provides the methodological foundation for supporting sustainable infrastructure development, the accuracy and consistency of carbon quantification depends on the selection of emission factors and other data sources. In this context, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which offers standardized methods and emission factors for quantifying carbon emissions from various sources, can serve as a foundational reference to conduct carbon calculations [14]. Previous research integrated these methods with building information modeling (BIM) to calculate the CO2 emissions from earthwork activities during the road construction [32,33]. BIM contributes to the extraction of precise material quantities and construction sequences, and these data are further linked to emission factors from the IPCC to calculate the carbon emissions across the life cycle stages. Therefore, these guidelines can be operationalized with higher accuracy and efficiency combined with the BIM method, which supports data-driven decision-making in sustainable design. Even if a great effort is being placed on the reduction in environmental impacts, a significant amount of air pollution is inevitably generated during the realization of the megaprojects, while nature areas might be occupied or damaged. Therefore, it is natural to ask: Would it be a better option to not launch the projects? According to a survey conducted among ten countries regarding the air pollution perception during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the largest portion of the participants (N = 9394) described their perceived air pollution quantity during the pandemic-related restrictive measures as “very low” and “extremely low/absent”. This suggests that traffic volume significantly influences the public perceptions of air pollution [34]. This implies that traffic flow has a great impact on the perception of pollution. On the other hand, both megaprojects would increase the connectivity between cities/countries, reduce the commuting time, provide more public transportation options, offer more environmentally friendly way of travelling, etc., therefore also possibly improving the perceptions regarding the generated pollution.
During the field trips and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in these two megaprojects, the sustainability concept was not given much attention in the early stages of construction, however, it has become a prerequisite for the project development due to the introduction of sustainability regulations and rules. For example, the EU published guidelines on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in 2013 with the target to plan and develop a coherent, efficient, multimodal, and high-quality transport infrastructure across Europe [35,36]. Both megaprojects mentioned in this study have been integrated into the TEN-T Network to better align with EU-level strategic initiatives, and at the same time, are obliged to meet the sustainable transport and climate requirements [37]. Furthermore, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project is also recognized as compliant with the EU Taxonomy regulation for sustainable activities due to its emphasis on low-carbon rail transport, emissions reduction, and climate resilience. The Taxonomy regulation is a classification system that defines the criteria for economic activities that are aligned with a net zero target by 2050 [38]. Meanwhile, the A16 Rotterdam project also incorporates ecological and energy efficiency measures that partially align with the environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy regulation. Moreover, the carbon monitor, quantification as well as the implementation of bonus systems are equally important to promote the “Green Deal” policy and contribute to the development of sustainable projects in a more fair and transparent way. Therefore, it can be assumed that legislation and regulations play a key role in pushing the sustainability in a project. With a strong determination to conduct the project in the most sustainable way, both megaprojects have implemented several technological innovations (i.e., solar panels, LED lighting, electric transport and hybrid equipment, energy recovery system, digital twin technology, material innovation) and introduced bonus systems (i.e., CO2 Performance Ladder, “compensation nature” strategy, and relevant energy/carbon quantification LCA methods). Meanwhile, the practical implementation of sustainable development depends on the technical and material innovations. For example, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project demands 79 tunnel standard elements (217 m long, 40 m wide, weigh 73,500 t) and 10 special elements (40 m long, weigh 20,000 t, 2 km interval), which will lead to the most emission-intensive operations during construction. As indicated in Figure 6, building materials accounted for most of the project’s climate footprint, according to the “Femern Sustainability Report 2023”, while fuel for the marine excavation works as approximately 17% higher than expected [21]. Therefore, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project has employed innovative solutions (e.g., green concrete, self-compacting concrete, modular precast concrete components, recycled steel, immersed tube method, real-time monitoring) to reduce carbon emissions in the construction phase and set up priority areas for future operations.
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Figure 6. Climate footprint of the Fehmarnbelt project [27].
Figure 6. Climate footprint of the Fehmarnbelt project [27].
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Furthermore, potential future technology and industry innovations must also be taken into account in current ongoing projects (i.e., future proofing) to limit the reconstruction operations and related carbon emissions. For example, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project considered the trend of electrification in transportation and designed an innovative ventilation system assuming the use of cleaner cars in the future. Meanwhile, sensors have been embedded in the tunnel elements to provide an effective monitoring system and achieve a long lifespan [39]. The design incorporates modular elements, which make it easier to replace or upgrade without major structural modifications. Additional concerns could also revolve around the implementation of inductive electric roads. For instance, this innovative technology can allow electric buses to recharge directly along the route. Among the others, an electric road pilot project will be implemented in the Norwegian municipality of Trondheim by 2029 [40]. An 80-m stretch of road will be equipped with inductive charging technology to test a new wireless charging system for electric buses while driving or stopping, even under harsh winter conditions.
Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI) technology in future construction activities should also be emphasized during the early design stage. AI tools can help model various scenarios to predict how different materials, layouts, and construction techniques affect energy consumption, waste generation, and carbon emissions. For example, AI-driven logistics have been applied in the Brenner Base Tunnel project to reduce carbon emissions. The Brenner Base Tunnel is a major railway tunnel project (55 km long) between Austria and Italy to improve cross-Alpine transport by providing a high-capacity, low-emission rail link to ease road congestion and reduce the environmental impact [41]. The applied AI-driven logistics can contribute to optimizing the transportation of construction materials, tunnel operations, and supply chain as well as predict maintenance [42]. These strategies promote long-term energy efficiency and sustainable development.

5. Conclusions

Megaprojects exert a long-term impact on society, the environment, and the economy due to their large-scale and transformational intrinsic properties. In the field of engineering construction, it is of great significance to involve sustainable strategies and measures to promote the “Green Deal” and cleaner production. Therefore, two case studies, namely the A16 Rotterdam project and Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project, were critically discussed to leverage the learnt knowledge and experience for the E39 Coastal Highway Route project in Norway.
The study indicates that government regulations and legislation play key roles in promoting low-impact transitions. Furthermore, relevant standard and bonus systems (i.e., CO2 performance ladder, “compensation nature” strategy, and relevant energy/carbon quantification LCA methods) are equally important in implementing sustainable measures. The two considered megaprojects have both been designed to reduce the travelling time and increase the connectivity among regions in a more environmentally manner. Moreover, the megaprojects will also employ advanced technologies (e.g., solar panels, LED lighting, electric transport and hybrid equipment, energy recovery system, digital twin technology, material innovation) in the construction stage as sustainable solutions to further cut carbon emissions.
The main limitations to implementing sustainability measures in megaprojects are cost control, policy support, and technological upgrades. Broadly speaking, technological upgrading innovations are the key factor to curtail CO2 emissions. Therefore, it is important for current construction practices to leave room for potential technological advancements to limit the amount of future reconstruction operations and the related carbon emissions. Meanwhile, such sustainable development planning should be considered as an important component at the earliest stage in a project, and subsequent monitoring and evaluation methods must also keep up.

Author Contributions

B.L.: Conceptualization, Data curation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing—Original Draft; M.A.: Conceptualization, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing—review and editing; A.J.: Conceptualization, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing—review and editing; F.N.R.: Conceptualization, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing—review and editing; R.A.B.: Conceptualization, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing—review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Experience Implementation Models project (Erfaringer gjennomføringsmodeller) and Green 2050 project.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author(s).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Lou, B.; Afshari, M.; Johansen, A.; Nygaard Rasmussen, F.; Bohne, R.A. Sustainability in Infrastructure Project Management—Analysis of Two European Megaprojects. Infrastructures 2025, 10, 113. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures10050113

AMA Style

Lou B, Afshari M, Johansen A, Nygaard Rasmussen F, Bohne RA. Sustainability in Infrastructure Project Management—Analysis of Two European Megaprojects. Infrastructures. 2025; 10(5):113. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures10050113

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lou, Baowen, Mahgol Afshari, Agnar Johansen, Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, and Rolf André Bohne. 2025. "Sustainability in Infrastructure Project Management—Analysis of Two European Megaprojects" Infrastructures 10, no. 5: 113. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures10050113

APA Style

Lou, B., Afshari, M., Johansen, A., Nygaard Rasmussen, F., & Bohne, R. A. (2025). Sustainability in Infrastructure Project Management—Analysis of Two European Megaprojects. Infrastructures, 10(5), 113. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures10050113

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