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Soile Hanttu (MSc. Eng.) began work on the West Metro as a project engineer on 7 August 2018. Hanttu is working on subcontracts – including the Metro’s lifts, escalators, fire roller shutter doors, fire sliding doors, sliding doors, toilet modules and smoke extraction fans. Automation procurements will be repeated in the same manner for all five new metro stations and the Sammalvuori depot.

Hanttu has long experience of the energy sector as a former employee of ÅF-Consult Oy, where she was involved in power plant projects. Her career has included the Tammervoima utility power plant project and she has also been involved in several power plant projects abroad.

“I’ve have been involved in project work for many years, which will be useful in this post. The scale and multifaceted nature of the West Metro project were what interested me. The project feels particularly important to me as a resident of Espoo,” Hanttu says.

She was impressed by the team spirit and busy mindset of the project during her first two weeks in her new post.

“We seem to have a good team and ‘can-do’ attitude,” Hanttu comments.

The excavation of the Yläkartanontie entrance is underway at the Länsimetro Soukka worksite. Yläkartanontie is one of the two entrances to the completed Metro station. The excavation work will continue on Yläkartonantie, in accordance with an updated schedule, until the end of December 2018.

Excavation and tunnel reinforcement work will be carried out between September and December. Noisy work phases may occur on weekdays between 7am and 6pm on Monday to Friday at Soukantie 12 and 14 and Yläkartanontie 29 and 30. The working hours are based on a noise permit granted by the Espoo Environment Centre.

Excavations of the tunnels at the Soukka worksite were finished at the end of the summer of 2017. Construction of the Soukka Metro station also began in August 2018, and will proceed in parallel with excavation during the autumn of 2018.

Länsimetro has a new Project Controller, Sami Järvinen (Bachelor of Business Administration). He will add valuable expertise to Länsimetro’s financial administration, and will work in close cooperation with the CFO. He will focus on Länsimetro’s cost monitoring, accounts monitoring and control, and both internal and external reporting.

His previous positions include a software trainer for financial administration employees at software developers Heeros Oy, and financial administration assistant at Work Power Oy. Before choosing financial administration, he has also worked as a plumber in Australia.

“Construction is still close to my heart, so I am happy to be part of this project,” says Järvinen.

Järvinen will continue his Master’s studies at Oulu Business School at the University of Oulu in the autumn of 2018, but Länsimetro made such an interesting job offer that he just couldn’t let it pass.

“The size of the project on a Finnish and indeed European scale is interesting, and I cannot wait to get started,” he says.

The Länsimetro Board convened on 28 June. A status update on the construction of phase two, Matinkylä–Kivenlahti, was presented to the Board. Excavations, planning, application for building permits and procurement are proceeding on schedule and in accordance with the adjusted cost estimate.

The interim report 1/2018 of the construction of the West Metro second phase was presented to the Board. During the first half of the year, the most significant event was the adjustment to the project plan approved by Espoo City Council on March 2018. The revised cost estimate for the entire project is EUR 1.159 million, and the aim is that the second phase is handed over to the operator in 2023. The project is about to move from excavation to construction. The first construction work is underway, procurements are proceeding on schedule, a situational picture concept has been implemented, site organisations of the construction contracts have been compiled, all underground building permits have been received and project management methods and internal communication have been developed further.

Furthermore, a risk overview related to owning (Ruoholahti–Matinkylä) and the construction phase (Matinkylä–Kivenlahti) were presented to the Board.

Status updates of 4 June 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.

The next meetng will be held on 23 August.

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

The worksite area of the Espoonlahti service tunnel will be expanded as of the week beginning on 23 July.

Owing to this change, part of the pavements and bicycle ways will be unavailable, and the pavements and bicycle ways on Ulappakatu should be used instead.

The new worksite area will be fenced off by 29 July. The expansion of the worksite area is related to the beginning of construction on the Espoonlahti metro station, and these changes apply until construction has been completed.

The worksite area and the new routes for pedestrians and cyclists are shown in the attached map.

The construction of the Soukka station will begin in August 2018. The work is carried out by Työyhteenliittymä YIT-ARE RU23 (a consortium of YIT Rakennus Oy and Are Oy).

The work consists of building Soukka metro station, its technical shafts, two entrances and a service tunnel extending from Soukanväylä to the station. The surface area of the underground facilities is about 20,000 m². A total of almost 11,000 m³ of concrete will be cast. The station entrances will be in Soukantori and Yläkartanontie.

The work will begin with the construction of a worksite base at the Soukantie worksite area. The construction of the station begins with the platform level’s framework, consisting of concrete walls, pillars 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 work may be done around the clock, but noisy work may be done according to the noise permit issued by the Espoo Environment Agency:

• weekdays from Monday to Friday, 7am–6pm
• weekdays 6pm–10pm and 9am–6pm on non-bank holiday Saturdays if the noise level of the work is a maximum of 35dB in nearby residences

The construction phase of the West Metro’s Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section is scheduled for 2019–2021. The building phase will include five stations, the track and the Sammalvuori depot, 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. In 2023, the stations and rail line will be handed over to the operator, i.e. HKL, in order to begin running passenger traffic.

More information about the Soukka construction will be given on Tuesday, 14 August 2018 at 5.30–7.30pm at Soukan palvelutalo (address Soukankaari 7). Welcome!

Phase two of the West Metro, that is, from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti, is moving on from excavation to construction. Competitive tendering will be completed this year to find contractors for each station. Contractors with project management responsibility have already been chosen for Soukka and Kivenlahti stations. Soukka station will be built by the YIT Rakennus Oy and Are Oy consortium, and Kivenlahti station by Skanska Infra Oy. The Matinkylä to Kivenlahti railway sections will be built by Graniittirakennus Kallio Oy. The procurement notices of the remaining three stations have been published, and contractors for all the stations will be chosen by October. The Sammalvuori depot has already reached the roof wetting stage. The work consists of not only building the stations, but 24 subcontracts will also be tendered out.

The West Metro consists of 52 different technical systems. Construction requires plenty of special expertise in different fields. The images on the website show the tunnel is built and in which order the metro station systems are completed.

How to build a metro station 

How to build a metro tunnel

The construction work will continue until 2022, after which the project will proceed to the commissioning phase. The goal is that the seven-kilometre rail line together with its five stations and depot will be handed over to the operator, HKL, during 2023. The lesson learnt from the first phase is to set aside enough time for the commissioning phase, joint use tests, other testing and official inspections. Construction will end once the stations and railway sections are handed over to the operator HKL to commence traffic services.

In March 2018, the City of Espoo reviewed its project plan from 2012 for the second phase. The revised cost estimate for the entire project is EUR 1.159 billion.