15 graduate students had to stay outside the fence

When 15 master’s students from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) went on a study tour and fieldwork in Rødbyhavn in week 42 instead of taking an autumn vacation, it was without even entering the construction site. Instead, they had to do their drone and robot observations in an area outside the fenced construction site.

Supervisor on the course in Rødbyhavn, postdoc. Rasmus Eckholdt Andersen from DTU is well satisfied with the data the students were able to collect, but would have liked to have been closer to the construction itself:

Would have liked to have had more activity
– Overall, we did not get the access to the construction site that we had dreamed of. It could not be done in relation to the schedule. We would have liked to have been able to work in an area where there was a bit more activity. So it changes the content of our course, he says.

Among other things, the students went to investigate whether drones and robots can be used to improve safety and logistics on a large construction site. But the drones did not fly over the construction site either. The construction site is fenced in, and they were not allowed to fly over the fence for safety reasons.

Unclear motives
FLC is responsible for the tunnel construction site in Rødbyhavn, and thus also for security and who can enter on the other side of the fence. FLC has not responded to FemernReport’s inquiry, so why the students were not allowed in is currently unclear.

The security measures around Northern Europe’s largest construction site are very extensive. According to Rasmus Eckholdt Andersen, the students’ drones pose no danger, as they only weigh around 250 grams.

High quality data
However, the supervisor emphasizes that the three days at Lolland gave good learning outcomes:…

– I still think it was good to go there, and I’m not bitter. The students have managed to collect data of fairly high quality. Now they are in the process of sorting through and analyzing the data. The purpose of the trip was to get some dirt under the nails and see what can actually be done out in the real world, says Rasmus Eckholdt Andersen.

Trying again
The three days outside the fence have not made him lose faith that the students can come on construction site visits:

– We’ll try again, and I don’t know if it’s a permanent no, either. I believe and hope that it will get better, and it may also be that we have to do it differently next time, says Rasmus Eckholdt Andersen.