News

Creations from the West Metro drawing competition on display at Iso Omena Library from 13–24 May – featuring West Metro Rap, collages and dream metro stations

The Kohtaamo space in the Iso Omena Library will feature the outcome of a West Metro-themed drawing competition from 13 to 24 May 2019. The works are the creation of pupils in grades 1 through 6 from Iivisniemi School in winter-spring 2019.

“West Metro is a major project that has improved our school’s traffic connections to Helsinki. The route to Helsinki used to be much more complicated, as it required three different buses. The West Metro has improved transit for our school, so we were happy to take part in the drawing competition,” says Leena-Kaisa Pesola, principal of Iivisniemi School.

“The metro is also a topic that students are familiar with – the new Kaitaa metro station is close to the school and many of our pupils’ homes,” says teacher Pekka Löppönen, who helped organise the competition.

The school’s student council board assumed main responsibility for organising the competition. According to the brief of the drawing competition, entries could consist of an image or text, and they could be created alone or as a group. The entries included a collage called West Metro Rap that was created by the entire class, as well as a creation that featured materials from various metro stations.

“Our decision to take part was also related to encouraging our pupils to participate. It was important for the children themselves to promote the matter in the classroom. We want to encourage participation and openness when it comes to matters in society – school is not an island isolated from the world,” says Pesola.

Länsimetro keeps in regular contact with parties that fall within the sphere of the construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti metro section, and this includes schools and day-care centres.

“We wanted to use a drawing competition as a means of finding out how children view the metro. It was wonderful to see how positive all the artwork was towards the metro, how creatively the work was realised and how much effort they put into it,” says Länsimetro’s Communications Manager, Saija Räsänen.

Länsimetro awarded all the participants with West Metro-themed prizes.

The artwork will be displayed at the Iso Omena Library, in the Kohtaamo space, from 13–24 May, during the library’s opening hours, which are: weekdays 8.00 am–9.00 pm, and Saturday 10.30 am–6.00 pm.

Deliveries of prefabricated elements begin at Riihilahdentie shaft for construction of emergency exit and smoke extraction shaft

In the West Metro rail line construction project, the construction of the emergency exit and the smoke extraction shaft will begin with the Riihilahdentie shaft in Kaitaa. During the installation stage of the prefabricated elements, prefabricated stairs, stair slabs, columns and wall elements will be installed in the shaft over a total height of eight floors.

The installation work will begin in the week starting 25 March 2019 and will continue until 31 July 2019. Prefabricated elements will be delivered to the site at a rate of two loads per week at 7 am.

In addition, concrete mixer trucks will deliver fresh concrete for the casting once or twice a week. Cranes will mainly be used outside the period of 7 am–3 pm on weekdays, and passenger cars and vans will otherwise be used for site traffic.

Once the installation work has been completed, construction will continue with work on the aboveground structures of the shaft. Work at the shaft will be carried out from Monday to Friday between 7 am and 6 pm.

Further information:

Mika Sandelin, Site Manager, GRK Infra Oy: Tel. + 050 522 9411, mika.sandelin(at)grk.fi

Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): 050 377 3700

Loud sawing work in Matinkylä metro’s service tunnel between 26 March and 5 April 2019

Diamond sawing work will be carried out in the Matinkylä service tunnel between 26 March and 5 April 2019. The work is connected to the construction of the Tynnyripuisto area.

The work is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, 26 March, at 7.00 am, and will take place between 7.00 am and 4.00 pm. The noise caused by the diamond sawing may carry all the way to the metro platform.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the construction work.

Further information:

Mikko Raisio, Site Manager, YIT: 050 3305503, mikko.raisio(at)yit.fi

Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): 050 377 3700

Summary of decisions by Länsimetro Oy’s Board of Directors on 21 March 2019

The Board of Directors convened on 21 March 2019. The Board of Directors received a status report and risk management report on the construction work on the second phase, the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. The project is progressing on schedule and on budget.

A status report on the servicing and maintenance on the first phase, Ruoholahti–Matinkylä, was discussed at the meeting. HKL not only operates the metro traffic but also reports to Länsimetro Oy on the use of the metro line and the stations and the related servicing and maintenance tasks as agreed.

Länsimetro Oy’s 2018 financial statements were presented to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors approved the financial statements. Länsimetro Oy’s financial statements will be published as part of the financial statements of the City of Espoo, according to the city’s schedule. The Board of Directors decided that the 2019 Annual General Meeting will be held on 6 May 2019.

The next Board meeting will be on 17 April 2019.

Further information:
Ville Saksi, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 823 2086
Olli Isotalo, Chairman of the Board of Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)50 593 3359
Media contact person: Satu Linkola, Communications Director, tel. +358 (0)46 877 3392

Third casting at the Espoonlahdentori entrance at the end of March

Concrete casting at the Espoonlahdentori entrance of the Espoonlahti metro station will be carried out during the week of 25 March as part of the construction of walls for the west entrance.

The work is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 28 March, at 5.00 am and will be completed on Friday, 29 March, between 4.00 am and 7.00 am. The casting work is a long process, and unfortunately late-night work cannot be avoided; due to the height and size of the structure, the pouring of concrete must be completed in one go.

The driving of concrete trucks and pumping of concrete may cause noise. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Further information

Timo Nuutinen, Site Manager, Destia Oy: tel. 050 390 1126, timo.nuutinen(at)destia.fi

Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): 050 377 3700

Construction on the Iivisniemenkallio shaft is moving forward

Construction at the Kaitaa metro station is proceeding, and construction work on the Iivisniemenkallio shaft will increase starting the week of March 18th. The Iivisniemenkallio entrance shaft is still provisional.

A large truck-mounted crane arrived at the entrance to the worksite on Thursday, 21 March. The shaft’s weather protection will be dismantled. Concrete-truck traffic near the site will increase due to the construction of the concrete structures, and a tower crane will be set up at the worksite. In addition, aggregates will be transported within the vicinity of the worksite, and prefabricated elements will be delivered to the site. Rock anchor drilling will take place inside the entrance shaft.

Work at the site will generally be carried out from Monday to Friday, between 7.00 am and 6.00 pm. Heavy traffic is routed from Kaitaantie to Hannuskalliontie, and from there to the worksite area.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the construction work.

Further information:

Ari Larikka, occupational safety manager, YIT Rakennus Oy: tel. +358 (0)50 440 3011, ari.larikka(at)yit.fi

Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): +358 50 377 3700

Smoke-extraction and emergency-exit shafts for phase II of West Metro – element deliveries in spring

The West Metro rail line project includes not only the construction of the rail tunnel, but also seven technical shafts designed for ventilation, smoke extraction and pressure equalisation in the completed metro. The shafts will also serve as emergency exits.

Prefabricated elements will be delivered to the shaft construction sites, and during the installation stage, prefabricated stairs, stair slabs, columns and wall elements will be installed in the shaft over a total height of eight floors.

Traffic near the shafts will increase when the elements are being delivered: concrete mixer trucks will deliver fresh concrete for the casting once or twice a week. Cranes will mainly be used outside the period of 7 am–3 pm on weekdays, and passenger cars and vans will otherwise be used for site traffic.

Once the installation work has been completed, construction will continue with work on the aboveground structures of the shaft. Work at the shaft will be carried out from Monday to Friday between 7 am and 6 pm.

Element deliveries have already begun for the shafts at Hyljetie, Soukanväylä, Opettajantie and Maininkitie, and they will begin at the Suomenlahdentie, Riilahdentie and Kauklahdenväylä shafts in April and May.

Estimated installation schedule for shaft elements in 2019:

January–July Hyljetie shaft
January–August Soukanväylä shaft
March–June Opettajantie shaft
March–July Maininkitie shaft
April–October Suomenlahdentie shaft
April–September Riilahdentie shaft
May–December Kauklahdenväylä shaft

Further information: Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm):+358 (0)50 377 3700

ABB to deliver facility monitoring system for phase II of West Metro

The facility monitoring system for the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section of West Metro will be delivered by ABB. Once the project is completed, the system will ensure the availability, reliability and safety of all of Länsimetro’s 13 metro stations. The value of the delivery is EUR 10.8 million.

ABB’s delivery includes facility monitoring systems for all five metro stations of phase II: Finnoo, Kaitaa, Soukka, Espoonlahti and Kivenlahti. ABB will additionally deliver a similar system for the underground metro depot to be built in phase II.

The system will enable the real-time monitoring of the metro stations, metro line and maintenance tunnels, emergency exit shafts, station doors, elevators, escalators, lighting, smoke extraction and alarms, from the metro operator’s control room as well as remotely. In exceptional situations, the system will initiate automatic alarms and response measures. The control system to be implemented as part of phase II of the metro project will be connected to the system covering the entire Helsinki metro network.

“ABB implemented the control system for phase I of the metro project. We are pleased that the same contractor is also involved in executing this second phase, in which ABB is one of our most important strategic suppliers,” says Länsimetro’s CEO, Ville Saksi.

West Metro’s second phase is estimated to reach completion in 2023. Construction on the rail line and stations will continue until 2022, at which point the project will proceed to the commissioning phase. It includes the acceptance of contracts, a comprehensive testing phase and approvals by public authorities. Länsimetro Oy will have completed its task when the metro is handed over to the operator so that preparations for transit operations can begin.

 

Concrete casting of walls for the Espoonlahdentori entrance continues on Monday, 18 March

Concrete casting at the Espoonlahdentori entrance of the Espoonlahti metro station started during the week of 10 March. This work phase marks the beginning of the construction of walls for the west entrance.

The work is scheduled to continue on Monday, 18 March, at 6.00 am and will be completed on Tuesday, 19 March, at 1.00 am at the latest. One similar concrete casting work phase will be carried out later in March. The casting work is a long process, and unfortunately late-night work cannot be avoided; due to the height and size of the structure, the pouring of concrete must be completed in one go.

The driving of concrete trucks and pumping of concrete may cause noise. We apologise for any inconvenience this work may cause.

Further information

Timo Nuutinen, Site Manager, Destia Oy: tel. 050 390 1126, timo.nuutinen(at)destia.fi

Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): 050 377 3700

Concrete casting of walls for the Espoonlahdentori entrance to begin in March

Concrete casting at the Espoonlahdentori entrance of the Espoonlahti metro station will start during the week of 10 March. This work phase marks the beginning of the construction of walls for the west entrance.

The work is scheduled to begin on Monday, 11 March, at 5.00 am and will be completed on Tuesday, 12 March, between 3.00 am and 6.00 am. Two similar concrete casting work phases will be carried out later in March. The casting work is a long process, and unfortunately late-night work cannot be avoided; due to the height and size of the structure, the pouring of concrete must be completed in one go.

The driving of concrete trucks and pumping of concrete may cause noise. We apologise for any inconvenience this work may cause.

Further information

Timo Nuutinen, Site Manager, Destia Oy: tel. 050 390 1126, timo.nuutinen(at)destia.fi Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 3 pm): 050 377 3700