Environmental restoration beginning at Koivusaari worksite base

SRV Rakennus will be completing its work on the site by mid-November. What still remains to be done is the in-situ casting of the mouth of the access tunnel at Vaskisalmenkuja, and the routing and implementation of the pedestrian and bicycle paths leading to Hanasaarenranta.
Starting at the end of September, the base will be removed and the area restored to its original condition. The building site huts will be removed during the week beginning on 26 September 2016. The remaining work stages may cause temporary traffic arrangements.

Further information:
SRV Rakennus Oy, 24 h hotline tel. +358 40 631 3838
Reima Liikamaa, Site Manager +358 40 842 8368
Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00) +358 50 377 3700

Excavation beginning on Soukantori station entrance

Two entrances will be constructed to the Soukka metro station, one at Soukantori and
another at Yläkartanontie. The demolition of a business wing is now ready at Soukantie 14, which had to be completed before excavating the Soukantori entrance.

The current work phases include open excavation and vibration isolation drilling, after which work will continue with the excavation of the shaft. This work is estimated to continue until the end of the year. The working hours for all phases of superstructure construction are Monday to Friday, 7.00 to 18.00. Blasting for open excavation will be announced by a series of short signals before the blast and a long signal afterwards.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Further information:
Skanska Infra Oy, responsible Site Manager Lauri Harri, lauri.harri(at)skanska.fi, worksite phone +358 50 560 9092
Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00) +358 50 377 3700

EIB supporting second stage of West Metro in Espoo

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced its support for the second stage of the West Metro construction project in Espoo. EIB President Werner Hoyer signed the loan agreement for the first EUR 100 million on his official visit to Finland.

“Projects like this show that what EIB does has a direct effect,” said EIB President Hoyer. “As an EU bank, our objective is to improve people’s quality of life, and improving the public transport of cities fits the bill. Faster and better traffic connections make people’s daily lives easier by much more than they come to think.

“West Metro extension in Espoo is not only an investment into public transport but also into the entire labour market region of Southern Finland. West Metro is a growth and development corridor that improves connections to Espoo’s southern parts and connects the entire area to the Helsinki metropolis,” said Espoo’s City Manager Jukka Mäkelä.

The EUR 100 million tranche is part of a total approved facility amounting to EUR 450m, the remaining part of which will be signed over the course of 2017. The loan for the second stage of West Metro will complement the EUR 450 million loan for the first stage that was provided in 2011.

Supply train crashes into stationary test drive train at Koivusaari station

A supply train which had brought construction supplies to the west metro building site crashed into a stationary metro train on the northern line at Koivusaari station, at around 00.30 hrs on Thursday morning. No one was injured in the accident. The supply train and stationary M300 metro train were slightly damaged.

Metro trains are being used for test driving on the west metro, but by the time of the accident the test drives had ceased and the test drive area had been handed over as a construction site. The line has been used for transporting construction supplies since the end of the test driving. General rules have been agreed for the transport of construction supplies. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

– HKL will investigate the causes of the accident alongside Länsimetro Oy. “HKL handles the transportation of supplies for the west metro construction site and ensuring safety on construction sites is our number one priority,” said Ville Lehmuskoski, Managing Director of Helsinki City Transport HKL.

– The accident will not affect construction work on the west metro. “Occupational safety is important, which means that we need to carefully investigate the accident and make sure that similar incidents do not occur in the future,” commented Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.

Further information:
Matti Kokkinen, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 50 3471558
Ville Lehmuskoski, Managing Director, HKL, tel. +358 40 5206710

Länsimetro’s opening schedule to be specified in October

Construction of the west metro is progressing. With the exception of the Koivusaari station, all stations are currently surrounded by the ongoing construction projects of other operators. These projects will continue even after the metro line is opened.

System tests and operational trials are under way. The last phase will be a joint test run. The joint test run will ensure that the metro is safe to use and that all systems function together. In addition to stations, the joint test run will test the functioning of adjacent stations and the metro line as a whole. System operations will be trialled using several emergency drills. Particular attention will be paid to restoring systems to normal after incidents. Testing will take several days. The joint test run will include the suppliers of various systems, contractors and the emergency services if necessary. The situation will be monitored on site and in the Herttoniemi metro control room, where the metro’s operations and traffic are overseen.

The opening schedule for the metro will be specified in October after sufficient tests have been performed

The Helsinki City Rescue Department and the Länsi-Uusimaa Rescue Department will approve the security systems, based on the test results. After this, the building authorities of Helsinki and Espoo are free to approve the use of the stations and the rail tunnels. Helsinki City Transport (HKL) will ensure that the track engineering security systems, including semaphore systems and indicators, are working properly. According to the current estimate, the metro will be ready for passenger traffic by January 2017 at the latest.

Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) will decide when passenger traffic begins and when feeder bus lines start operating.

Construction of the west metro in pictures

Excavation at the Opettajantie shaft site will begin in week 33

The construction of the Opettajantie shaft continues with excavation works. The shaft site was fenced off in the summer, and some overground work such as grading excavation has already been done. The excavation of the shaft itself will begin in week 33. Blasting during excavation work will be announced by an audible warning signal. Blasting will take place daily between 7 am and 6 pm. The excavation will conclude in week 34.

The excavated rock will be taken away after 4 pm. Drivers are advised to take extreme caution and drive very slowly.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Further information:
Worksite hotline Destia Oy, tel. +358 40 637 5377
Esa Juhantila, Project Manager, Destia Oy, tel. +358 400 539 302
Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00), tel. +358 50 377 3700

Superstructure construction work at the Finnoo station about to commence

Lemminkäinen Infra is about to commence superstructure construction work at the Finnoo station. Three worksite areas will be fenced off and all necessary traffic arrangements will be made.

The HSY depot building near the Meritie entrance will be demolished, and pipeline diversion work will also be carried out. Shaft work in the eastern end will begin with drilling and piling, after which piling work will continue near the Finnoonsilta bridge entrance.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Further information:
Worksite hotline Lemminkäinen Infra Oy, tel. 050 421 3344
Harri Vehola, Site Manager, tel. 040 750 8564
Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00), tel. 050 377 3700

Crushing of excavated rock from the Soukka station and rail tunnel

Skanska Infra starts crushing rock material obtained from the excavation of the Soukka station and rail tunnel. The crushing site will be in a tunnel underground, and the crushing starts in the first week of August.

The crushing continues until 31 December 2016. Underground crushing will be performed Mon-Fri between 7.00 a.m. and 9.00 p.m.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Further information:
Worksite hotline Skanska Infra Oy, tel. +358 50 560 9092
Site Manager Skanska Infra Oy, Lauri Harri, lauri.harri(at)skanska.fi
Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00), tel. +358 50 377 3700

Grading excavation at the Opettajantie shaft site will begin in week 29

Construction of the Opettajantie shaft started as trees were felled, topsoil removed and earthmoving commenced at the worksite area.  The shaft site is now fenced off, and overground work continues on a daily basis. In week 29, grading excavation of the worksite area will begin. The work will then continue with concreting ramps. The site will be fenced off with permanent fence after the ramps have been concreted.

Blasting during excavation work will be announced by an audible warning signal. Blasting will take place daily between 7 AM and 6 PM.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

Further information:

Worksite hotline Destia Oy, tel. +358 40 637 5377

Esa Juhantila, Project Manager, Destia Oy, tel. +358 400 539 302

Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00), tel. +358 50 377 3700

Construction of the Maininkitie shaft has commenced

Construction of the Maininkitie shaft started as trees were felled and topsoil was removed from the worksite area. In week 27, the shaft site was fenced off, and overground work has started. In week 28, the work will continue with support construction: the future shaft site will be sheeted, i.e. metal sheet walling will be provided to support the shaft. Next, earth compacting and strengthening will continue until August. Residents will be informed later when open excavation begins.

Because of the worksite area, a few parking spaces are no longer available at the parking site.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.

The location of the shaft site is indicated in the monitoring service map on our website, where it is also possible to follow the excavation progress.

Länsimetro Seurantapalvelu

Further information:

Worksite hotline Destia Oy, tel. +358 40 637 5377

Esa Juhantila, Project Manager, tel. +358 400 539 302

Länsimetro feedback phone number (Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00), tel. +358 50 377 3700