The Association of Finnish Construction Engineers and Architects (RIA) has chosen Länsimetro Oy’s CEO Ville Saksi as RIA Member of the Year 2018.
RIA wanted to give Saksi recognition for his solid leadership skills and construction know-how as well as his broad experience of all areas of the industry. The panel based its choice on Saksi’s exemplary leadership of a challenging project that has allowed him to gain the trust and respect of all the partners and workers involved in the project.
“Being voted RIA Member of the Year was a pleasant surprise. However, I would like to stress that complex projects such as this one are always a team effort and not a personal achievement, and this award is for the whole team”, Saksi says.
Before Länsimetro Oy, Saksi was the CEO of VR Track Oy. He has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.
Works on the West Metro’s Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section are currently progressing well in light of all the key indicators.
“All the tunnel excavation works have been completed, and approximately 70% of the construction budget has been spent. Our contractors have also been happy with the chosen contracting model. It seems that we have succeeded in winning the contractors’ trust”, Saksi says.
The RIA Member of the Year award will be presented to Saksi next week.
All the stations and access shafts for engineering works along the West Metro’s Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section now have exits above ground. The last shaft, which provides an exit from the station in Soukka on Yläkartanontie, broke through to the surface on Monday, 8 October.
There are a total of 19 exits and access shafts along the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. All the rail tunnel sections have been interconnected since February 2018.
“The exit is now in place, but we still need to shape the archway this week. There is therefore still some excavation work to be done. The next steps will involve removing excavated rock and reinforcing the structures, bolting and shotcreting”, explains Construction Manager Meeri Kaartinen from Kalliorakennus-Yhtiöt Oy, which is the excavation contractor.
After the Yläkartanontie exit, the only building site along the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section where excavation work is still needed will be an exit on Solmutori in Espoonlahti. All excavation works will nevertheless be completed by the end of 2018. The site in Soukka has now progressed to the construction phase, and the final excavation works and construction works are being carried out simultaneously. Other active building sites relating to the project can be found in Kivenlahti, Kaitaa and at various points along the track, and construction works in Finnoo are due to begin in October. The construction of the Espoonlahti station is scheduled to start in December.
KONE Elevators Ltd has been chosen as the supplier of the elevators and escalators for the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section. 31 elevators will be installed, 4 of which will be inclined elevators. The price of the elevators is EUR 6.7 million. KONE Elevators Oy also won the escalator tender. There will be 14 groups of escalators (42 escalators) on the section, the longest of which will be installed in the Finno station. The longest escalator in Finland can currently be found at the Koivusaari station. The price of the escalators will be EUR 11 million.
A passenger’s metro journey either begins or ends with escalators or elevators. The user experience is enhanced when planning and implementation take account of people’s everyday behaviour. The number-one priority is safety, but comfort and reliability are also important considerations.
“Many of the technical systems on which the West Metro relies are not visible to passengers. Elevators and escalators are a visible and important part of underground travel, passengers’ experience and accessibility at underground stations. KONE is a global supplier with experience of moving large numbers of passengers around in places such as the biggest cities in China. The underground systems there can serve millions of passengers on a daily basis”, explains Länsimetro Oy’s CEO Ville Saksi.
The West Metro is one of the safest underground systems in the world. Since the elevators are fire-compartmentalised, they can also be used during fires. Special attention has also been given to the comfort of elevators and escalators: the stations are brightly lit and the elevator shafts are predominantly made of glass, the announcements on the public address system have been customised and there is a display inside each elevator that tells passengers the time remaining until the next level.
“It is a great pleasure and honour for us to also be involved in the second stage of the West Metro project. This project is perfect for our mission: to improve the flow of urban life. Our solutions for moving large numbers of people around and our smart KONE 24/7 Connected Services concept allow us to make underground travel an even smoother experience for passengers”, says KONE Elevators Ltd’s Managing Director Karla Lindahl.
Installation works for elevators and escalators are due to begin towards the end of 2019. The goal is to hand over the seven-kilometre rail line together with its five stations and depot to the operator, Helsinki City Transport, during 2023.
Further information: Länsimetro Oy, CEO Ville Saksi, tel. +358 40 823 2086, ville.saksi@lansimetro.fi
KONE Elevators Ltd, Managing Director Karla Lindahl, tel. +358 40 720 1134, karla.lindahl@kone.com
The tracks for the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section will be supplied by Vossloh Rail Services Finland Oy. The budget for the works is EUR 2.0 million.
The contract covers laying a total of 34 kilometres of tracks. The tracks are being welded in Kaipiainen near Kouvola, and they will be supplied in 120-metre pieces. The tracks will enter the tunnel in Vuosaari, from where they will be transported through the existing underground network all the way to the beginning of the new section. The deliveries will take place at night so as to not disturb passenger transport. Tracklaying is scheduled to begin towards the end of the summer of 2020 in connection with superstructure works.
Vossloh Rail Services Finland Oy also supplied the tracks for the first section of the West Metro, and the company is the leading operator in the industry in Finland.
Excavation works along the line being constructed during the second stage of the West Metro project were completed in January 2018. The construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlaakso section began in the summer of 2018. Graniittirakennus Kallio has been contracted to construct 17.5 kilometres of new tracks, seven shafts and 32 connecting tunnels. The goal is to hand over the seven-kilometre rail line together with its five stations and depot to the operator, Helsinki City Transport, during 2023.
Further information:
Länsimetro Oy, Technical Director Raimo Kaunismäki. raimo.kaunismaki@lansimetro.fi, tel. +358 50 390 6670
Risto Kainulainen has been appointed as the foreman of the West Metro’s construction site in Kaitaa. This is not Kainulainen’s first time on the West Metro project, as he also oversaw the construction works of the Aalto University station during the first stage of the project.
“I am happy to be back. The West Metro is a complex project and the only one of its kind in Finland”, Kainulainen says.
Kainulainen has a total of 20 years of experience in the construction industry, and he has been involved in both new developments and renovations as well as infrastructure projects.
The contractor in charge of the construction works in Kaitaa is a consortium formed of YIT Construction Ltd and Are Oy, and the work is due to start at the beginning of October. Kainulainen will spend most of his time at the building site in Kaitaa, where he will ensure the standard of the contractor’s work and progress according to the agreed schedule.
“I am used to turning up on site early in the morning. The first thing I do is go over the previous day’s works with the contractor. In addition to overseeing progress, my job includes coordinating engineering works as well as attending various kinds of meetings”, Kainulainen explains.
Construction of the West Metro’s station stop in Kaitaa is set to begin in September 2018. The contractor is a consortium formed of YIT Construction Ltd and Are Oy.
The contract covers the construction of the underground station, a service tunnel and connecting tunnels, an air raid shelter as well as an exit on Kaitaantie, an access shaft for engineering works on Iivisniementie and the framework for an exit at Iivisniemenkallio, which at this stage consists of an emergency exit route and an access shaft for engineering works.
The first step is to set up a base for the works at Kaitaantie 5. The works will begin with the construction of a framework for the station’s platforms, including concrete walls, columns and arches. The framework construction begins from the bottom up, advancing floor by floor towards the surface.
During construction, there will be an increase in construction traffic around the mouths of the shafts and access tunnels. Otherwise, construction will cause no major changes in the surrounding environment.
During the construction phase, quiet works can be carried out around the clock, while any activities that produce high levels of noise are limited to times specified in the noise permit issued by the Espoo Environment Department:
between 7 am and 6 pm from Monday to Friday
between 6 pm and 10 pm from Monday to Friday and between 9 am and 6 pm on Saturdays, provided that the resulting noise levels in nearby residential properties do not exceed 35 dB
The West Metro’s Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section is due to be built between 2019 and 2022. All in all, the construction phase of the project comprises the construction of five stations, tracks and a depot in Sammalvuori as well as the installation of various systems. Work will be handed over by the contractors in 2022– 2023, followed by joint use tests and official inspections. The operator, Helsinki City Transport, will take over the stations and the track in 2023 in preparation for launching passenger transport.
More information about the construction works in Kaitaa will be provided at a residents’ meeting at Martinkallio School (Martinkallio 2) between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm on Monday, 24 September 2018. We look forward to seeing you there!
An annual project work competition is organised by the Project Management Association Finland. The association selected two project outcomes as the winners: the renovation of the submarine tunnel at Suomenlinna on the basis of an alliance model, and the big room operating model of phase two of the West Metro project.
In the second phase of the Western Metro, the big room model was adopted for the stretch of track from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti; this refers to the use of joint premises, a joint management model and situation management. The big room model was adopted on the basis of experiences gained from the first phase of construction.
“We are grateful and touched by this recognition. In the project, we are making every effort to ensure that the second phase succeeds in line with the goals. An up-to-date snapshot, robust management, swift decision-making and effective information flow are the cornerstones of our everyday construction activities”, says Ville Saksi Managing Director of Länsimetro Oy.
In its grounds for choosing Länsimetro, the Project Management Association Finland commends the new project organisation for demonstrating sound judgement in examining the ‘Lessons Learned data’ and having the courage to make a significant change to the management and working model.
“The year 2016-2017 was a difficult one for Länsimetro’s project organisation because the first phase was delayed, receiving negative publicity. Fortunately, those involved in the project had the ability to rethink their activities on an entirely new basis, thanks to the strong trust of the parties and their willingness to act in the best interests of the project”, explains Jouko Kaaja of Project Management Association Finland.
Based on the big-room approach, Länsimetro Oy, its consultants and other persons involved in the project are all working under the same roof. City representatives and HKL have also been assigned their own workstations. The term, big room, is generally used in the construction industry and refers to a practice based on which the various parties operate on the same premises in accordance with common ground rules.
The project management system has been improved in accordance with lessons learned from the first phase and developed as a unique situation management model, i.e. a situation management room, on a Finnish scale. As well as the project schedule and costs, risks, quality, the smoothness of cooperation and occupational safety are monitored from the situation room. The flow of information has been improved by creating new models and channels for internal communication. In both the big room and construction works, the flow of information, trust and smoothness of cooperation are regularly measured.
The City of Espoo specified the construction project plan in spring 2018. The adjusted cost estimate for the construction of phase two is EUR 1,159 million. The goal is to hand the track section over to operator, HKL, sometime during 2023.
Further information:
Jouko Kaalja, Project Management Association Finland, tel. +358 (0)400 403 145, jouko.kaaja(at)pry.fi
Ville Saksi, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 823 2086, ville.saksi(at)lansimetro.fi
The competitive tendering for access control systems has been completed for all construction sites in the second phase of West Metro, and a GSM network has been acquired for the duration of the construction. The access control system during construction will be supplied by Ramirent Finland Ltd. The total price is EUR 496,000.
The underground GSM network used during construction will be provided by Elisa Corporation. The total price is EUR 161,000.
The access control system delivery consists of an access control management system and field equipment for all construction site gates throughout the duration of the project. Each construction site gate will be locked, with the construction site only accessed through these gates. This will not only prevent outsiders from entering the site but also prevents vandalism and theft, and increases occupational safety.
The underground GSM network will improve safety and efficiency during construction. The worksite area covers two parallel tunnels, a total of 17.5 kilometres and 5 stations. However, there is no GSM coverage in the underground tunnels. The system during the construction will be used until the final GSM cables will be implemented.
System installation is already under way.
More information: Länsimetro Oy, Technical Director Raimo Kaunismäki, tel. 050 390 6670
The construction contract for the Finnoo station on the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti-section of the West Metro has been won by Työyhteenliittymä Graniittirakennus Kallio Oy and Aki Hyrkkönen Oy. The total contract price is approximately EUR 58 million.
The contract will involve the construction of the Finnoo underground station, a service tunnel and the related connecting tunnel excavations, as well as the Meritie and Finnoonsilta entrances. In addition, an eastern and western technology shaft and extinguishing route shaft will be built.
The surface area of the facilities to be built is around 22,000m2. A total of around 11,000m3 of concrete will be cast and over 4,000 m2 of various elements installed. Finnoo is set to become a neighbourhood of 17,000 residents stretching from the Länsiväylä motorway to the sea, with a centre of around the metro station. Account will be taken of the protected bird wetland in Finnoo during construction. For example, no noisy work will be done in the area during the birds’ breeding season.
The Finnoo station will be built by the consortium GRK Oy and Aki Hyrkkönen Oy. GRK also won the tender for the railway line construction work. Work on the line began in the summer of 2018.
“The construction of the Finnoo station will create synergies and continuity in the line construction already being done by GRK. The consortium will provide the customer with the broad experience and expertise of two organisations. Construction of the Finnoo station will benefit from the GRK’s infra and rail expertise and Aki Hyrkkönen Oy’s strengths in technical building services and office building”, says Teemu Lantto, CEO of GRK Oy.
Construction is progressing in line with the objectives during the second phase.
“Construction is on schedule and within the cost estimate. Work has begun in Soukka, in Kivilahti, in Kaitaa and on the metro line. A contractor with project management responsibility will be also chosen for the Espoonlahti station this year. Over 60 percent of the technical construction work for the Sammalvuori Depot has already been completed”, says Ville Saksi, CEO of Länsimetro Oy.
In March 2018, the City of Espoo reviewed its project plan for the second phase from 2012. The revised cost estimate for the entire project is EUR 1,159 million. The goal is to hand over the seven-kilometre rail line together with its five stations and depot to the operator, HKL, during 2023.
More information:
Ville Saksi, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 823 2086, ville.saksi@lansimetro.fi
Teemu Lantto, CEO of GRK Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 772 7271, teemu.lantto@grk.fi
Aki Hyrkkönen, CEO of Aki Hyrkkkönen Oy, tel. +358 (0)400 174 295, aki.hyrkkonen@ah-oy.fi
The Board of Länsimetro convened on 23 August. A status update on construction of the second phase, Matinkylä–Kivenlahti, and a progress report on construction contract procurements were presented to the Board. In general, the project is progressing according to the target schedule and cost targets.
The Board of Directors decided on the creation of separate contracts.
Status updates of 6 August 2018 on the maintenance and servicing of the first phase of the West Metro, the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section, were presented to the Board. HKL shall report to Länsimetro Oy on the use of the track and stations and the related service and maintenance tasks as agreed.
Project communications were presented to the Board in the autumn of 2018. The focus of such communications is to provide updates on the progress of construction, especially for those living and operating in the affected area, as excavation gives way to construction work. Communications on the project will also take more detailed account of various stakeholder groups.
The next meeting will be held on 13 September.
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 contacts: Satu Linkola, Communications Director, tel. +358 (0)46 877 3392
