Landscaping is currently under way at the Sammalvuori depot. Sammalvuori is a recreational area for many of the neighbourhood’s residents, so the aim is for the depot to blend in with the surrounding terrain as much as possible and at the same time to offer the depot employees a more natural environment to work in. The area used by the metro worksite is being landscaped with the original topography and heights in mind: the area is not a level field of asphalt, but instead has rises and indentations. The landscaping also includes fencing around the depot area, driving lanes, pedestrian/cyclist routes, asphalt, kerbstones, paving, stone embankments and a so-called dry riverbed.
Some of the landscaping also includes planting. After the soil maintenance, grass, trees and bushes were planted. Lawn covers approximately 3,000 square metres and meadows roughly 5,000 square metres, and there are 600 Scots pine trees in the area.
The yard area of the depot will be covered with close to 1,600 square metres of transplanted forest floor shrubland, which will blend in nicely with the surrounding forest landscape.
Photos: Henna Aaltonen, Espoo City Museum
Sammalvuori’s underground metro depot houses two underground halls: one, a storage space for metro cars and the other, a service hall. Only three buildings at Sammalvuori can be seen aboveground: staff premises, including parking spots, the entrance building to the service tunnel and the technical shaft. In addition, a building for the second technical shaft is visible on the Espoonlahti side. Both areas are fenced in.
Systems testing is currently being carried out at the depot. During the testing period, all systems installed in the depot will be tested first alone, and after that, testing will be carried out to ensure that the systems all work together. These scenario tests will determine how the inter-system functions operate in emergency situations, such as a fire. The tests will ensure that the systems function safely and as planned. HKL will begin to outfit the depot in the course of 2021. The Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section will be handed over to HKL in 2023.