Year: 2012

Electrical systems and HVAC contracts for Otaniemi and Keilaniemi stations and sprinkler system contract for entire metro line signed

The Otaniemi station HVAC contract was awarded to Lemminkäinen Talotekniikka Oy; the contract is worth EUR 3.5 million. Lemminkäinen Talotekniikka Oy was also awarded the electrical systems contract for Otaniemi station, worth EUR 3.2 million.

The electrical systems and HVAC contracts for Keilaniemi station were likewise signed today. The HVAC contract (EUR 3.3 million) was awarded to YIT Kiinteistötekniikka Oy and the electrical systems contract (EUR 3.0 million) to ARE Oy.

The sprinkler systems contract, covering all stations on the metro line, was awarded to Firecon Group Oy. The contract is worth EUR 2.9 million.

The West Metro HVAC and electrical contracts are divided into station-specific contracts and underground tunnel contracts.

“More than 65 per cent, or 18,300 metres, of the metro tunnels have already been excavated. Excavation work will be completed at all worksites next year, and construction work on the stations and tunnels will begin in the meantime as excavations allow,” says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

Further information

Matti Kokkinen, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. 050 347 1558
Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the West Metro underground line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä. The company was established in 2007. The Länsimetro offices are situated in Tapiola, Espoo.

Construction work on the Länsimetro underground tunnel shaft is about to start in Tapiola, at the corner of Kelohongantie and Puhurinpolku. The work will commence in week 28 with the felling of trees on the construction site and fencing in of the site.

The actual construction of the shaft will commence in week 30. The work stages to be carried out above the ground include excavation in earth, earthmoving and the drilling of the excavation holes. Blasting work will be carried out in the tunnel, and the broken rock will be hauled away through the Etelätuulentie work site base. Earthwork and excavation work will continue until spring 2013. Shaft structures and the shaft building above the ground will be constructed in 2013-2014.

In the underground tunnel there is a shaft, reaching up to the surface every 600 metres, for emergency exit, smoke extraction, pressure equalisation and ventilation. There is an emergency exit stairway with fire compartments halfway through the shaft. The number of vertical shafts on the route totals 15. The exits of the vertical shafts are in streets or public parks. The shape, structure and facade materials of the shaft buildings will be designed to be appropriate for their surroundings.

More information available at

Earthwork and excavation: Skanska Infra Oy/Tuomas Laamanen,
tel. 020 719 2852

Works by visual artist Seija Rissanen are on display at the Tapiola metro office from 25 September to 2 November.

Seija Rissanen has her studio on Karhusaari in Espoo. Every day she passes by the entrance to the West Metro service tunnel.

“I followed the excavation of that huge opening with great interest from the very first blasting. As the work progressed, I became increasingly fascinated with this hole in the ground that was growing deeper and deeper,” Seija Rissanen says.

Seija Rissanen began this series of acrylic paintings on Aleksis Kivi Day (10 October) and finished on Lucia Day (13 December) in 2011. Rissanen’s paintings are a series of impressions of morning at the tunnel entrance.

“The paintings are largely fiction, quickly executed depictions of what morning looks like around the tunnel entrance, since I could not go any further than that,” Rissanen explains.

“I was dazzled with the idea of capturing the greyness of autumn, the shades of grey in the water, snow and stone, and above all the play of light on these elements,” says Seija Rissanen of the genesis of the paintings displayed at the metro office.

From stone to light – visual artist Seija Rissanen
Exhibition at the Länsimetro office in Tapiola
Tapiontori 3 A
Open Mon–Thu 09.00 to 16.00 and Fri 09.00 to 15.00
25.9.–2.11.

The Länsimetro HVAC and electrical contracts are divided into station-specific contracts and the underground tunnel contract. The HVAC contract for the entire tunnel line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä was awarded to Skanska Talonrakennus Oy. The value of the contract is EUR 6.7M. The HVAC contract for the Lauttasaari station was won by EMC Talotekniikka Oy. The value of the contract is EUR 3.5M. The 2.8M electrical contract for the Lauttasaari station was awarded to Quattroservices Oy.

Construction and building services engineering contracts for most of the remaining stations and the entire underground line will be awarded later this autumn.

– Once again we managed to secure excellent operators for electrical and HVAC work. This autumn will be extremely busy in terms of procurement because excavation work will be finished next year, and work on the stations will begin immediately after that. We are currently looking for high-quality operators with extensive experience, says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

Almost 60 per cent – some 16,300 metres – of the underground tunnels have already been excavated.

– At the moment, we are making excellent progress with the excavation work. In August we made a new all-time record by excavating 1.6 kilometres of tunnel. The standard is about a kilometre per month, says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

More information available at

Matti Kokkinen, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. 050 347 1558
Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the Länsimetro underground line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä. The company was established in 2007. Länsimetro’s office is situated in Tapiola, Espoo.

Kalliorakennus-Yhtiöt Oy is the winner of the Länsimetro Safest Metro Construction Site competition. The competition period was 1 January-30 June. The competition is organised semi-annually, and all current Länsimetro projects participate.

– Occupational safety and health is always a priority on our construction sites. I’m happy to see that this also shows in the competition results, said Work Foreman Meeri Pöllänen of Kalliorakennus-Yhtiöt Oy at the award ceremony.

In the competition, the current Länsimetro excavation projects were assessed on the basis of accident frequency and civil engineering measurements (‘MVR’ in Finnish, referring to the assessment and development of safety at civil engineering construction sites). In the assessment, the weighting coefficient for contract-specific MVR measurement results was 60 per cent, while that of accident frequency was 40 per cent.

The competition emphasised MVR measurements. Each contractor makes a weekly MVR measurement round to determine the situation and safety level at the site. These weekly inspections reveal any shortcomings in construction site safety while acknowledging the things that have been carried out properly.

The construction site was presented with the Länsimetro ‘Safest Metro Construction Site’ competition trophy, a gilded piece of rail track.

More information available at

Matti Kokkinen, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. 050 347 1558

Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the Länsimetro underground line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä. The company was established in 2007. Länsimetro’s office is situated in Tapiola, Espoo.

Länsimetro Oy requested excavation contractors for an extra report on compliance with agreements at their worksites. At the moment, there are 454 employees working on the various contracts. Länsimetro has a contractual relationship with excavation contractors, who in turn have signed agreements with their respective subcontractors. There are 19 transport operators as subcontractors.

The extra report revealed two unclear cases of wage payment, both from March of this year. These cases involved an employment relationship dispute. According to our information, the transport operator and the Transport Workers’ Union AKT are in negotiations concerning these two cases. All current subcontractors are in compliance with the relevant collective agreement.

The contracting agreements require contractors to comply fully with their corporate social responsibility and to ensure that their subcontractors do so too. Specifically, contractors are obliged to ensure that their subcontractors comply with the relevant collective agreement.

“We ensure compliance with statutory requirements whenever we sign an agreement for a contract,” says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro. “We also monitor compliance with these requirements regularly in the course of the work. We have decided to increase the immediate penalty for breach of agreement to EUR 5,000. Länsimetro will not condone the use of shadow labour at its worksites.”

On 24 August, Länsimetro requested its contractors to return an extra report in response to the public allegations of the use of shadow labour at its worksites. Compliance with corporate social responsibility is monitored at the monthly worksite meetings as a matter of routine.

Further information

Länsimetro, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. 050 347 1558

Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the West Metro line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä. The company was set up in 2007. The Länsimetro offices are situated in Tapiola, Espoo.

The construction of the west metro mainly consists of tunnel excavations. These are performed by contractors in a direct contractual relationship with Länsimetro. In turn, the contractors have a contractual relationship with their subcontractors. Steps are being taken to ensure that statutory obligations are fulfilled in the case of every contract agreement. Länsimetro does not tolerate grey economy activities on its worksites.

Contractual agreements require that contractors attend to their social responsibilities and ensure that their subcontractors also do so. A socially responsible company adheres to laws and regulations, taking care of obligations related to taxation, social security contributions and general collective agreements. Each contractor is under an obligation to ensure that its subcontractors adhere to the general collective agreement.

Social responsibility issues are monitored as part of the normal monthly site meeting routine. In grey economy and occupational safety matters, Länsimetro is also engaged in continuous cooperation with the tax authorities and the industrial safety district.

– We have asked excavation contractors to provide an extra report on their compliance with agreements. If necessary, we will apply the sanctions included in the agreements, if any deviations are discovered. The strictest option is dissolution of the contract. Grey economy activities are not tolerated on Länsimetro sites. Right now, at the excavation stage, we employ around 500 workers at metro worksites in Helsinki and Espoo, but this number will multiply when we reach the building construction stage. Our monitoring routines must also cover a larger number of workers, says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

Further information

Matti Kokkinen, CEO, Länsimetro, tel. +358 50 347 1558

Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the West Metro line from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä. The company was set up in 2007. The Länsimetro offices are situated in Tapiola, Espoo.

The excavation work on the West Metro has now passed the halfway mark. To date, 13,191 m or just over half of the underground metro tunnels has been excavated. The West Metro line will consist of twin tunnels 13.9 km in length.
The station halls at Otaniemi, Keilaniemi and Koivusaari stations have also been nearly excavated. 83% of the tunnelling on the Helsinki side and 36% on the Espoo side has been completed. The tunnel excavations will be ready in 2013.
“Work on the metro will continue as normal over the summer. The tunnelling is proceeding at a rate of about 1 km per month. Construction work on the stations will begin in the autumn, and during 2013 the focus will increasingly shift to building construction,” says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

Excavation progress can be monitored at the West Metro website, www.lansimetro.fi -> Work progress.

Further information

Länsimetro, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. 050 347 1558

Merituulentie, in the centre of Tapiola, will be closed to private traffic from 16 July. Traffic will be rerouted via Westendinkatu and Itätuulentie, which will be open to through-traffic only. There will be no change to pedestrian and cycle routes. There will still be a bus service along Merituulentie and at the bus terminal, until the end of 2012.
Merituulentie is being closed because of work on the Tapiola metro work site, part of the westward extension of the Helsinki metro system. The refurbishment of the Sokos building and the construction of a car park in Tapionaukio Square are also under way in the area. The road will remain closed at least until 2015, when all the construction work is completed.

Further information

Länsimetro, feedback telephone number 050 377 3700, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Espoo Technical Services Department´s customer services, tel. (09) 8162 5000
www.tapiolankeskus.fi