Year: 2011

Earthwork in connection with the west metro has begun in Niittykumpu. The excavation of the access tunnel, station, two shafts and two parallel metro tunnels of 1.5 km in length will start on 14 November. The contract is being undertaken by YIT Rakennus Oy.

Excavation work will begin with the inspection of nearby buildings and the excavation of the access tunnel entrance. During the autumn and winter the excavation will proceed towards the metro station and the actual metro tunnels. The entrance to the access tunnel will be located in the south-eastern corner of Merituulentie and Haukilahdenkatu. Excavation for the metro station will take place between Haukilahdenkatu and Niittykatu, south of Merituulentie.

Temporary traffic lights will be installed on Haukilahdenkatu at the entrance of the access tunnel. Dump trucks will use the temporary junction to access Länsiväylä and Jätkäsaari.

The work in Niittykumpu will be carried out within the limits imposed by environmental authorities. Tunnel blasting may be performed from Monday to Saturday between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and open excavation between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Other work relating to excavation and the removal of blast rock will take place round the clock. Transport to and from the site will avoid rush hour traffic where possible.

According to the preliminary estimate, excavation work for the Niittykumpu contract will be complete at the end of 2013. The progress of the excavation work can be followed using the monitoring service available on our website.

More information

Länsimetro, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. +358 50 347 1558, matti.kokkinen(at)lansimetro.fi

The Helsinki City Rescue Department and the Länsi-Uusimaa Department for Rescue Services will organise a rescue exercise on the west metro worksite in Otaniemi at the address Tekniikantie 15. The exercise will take place on Thursday, 10 November from noon to 3 p.m.

The purpose of the rescue exercise will be to train for rescue operations in the underground tunnel and to test the cooperation of the rescue departments, Länsimetro and the contractor. The exercise is the fourth of its kind to be organised at a west metro worksite. The previous exercises were organised at west metro worksites in Ruoholahti, Lauttasaari and Koivusaari.

The participants will include SRV Rakennus Oy, which is the contractor in Otaniemi, and the rescue departments of Helsinki city and Länsi-Uusimaa. The total duration of the exercise will be around three hours.
The exercise will not cause interruption to traffic on Tekniikantie. Traffic will be directed locally as necessary.
The public are requested to avoid the area of the exercise site where possible.

Further information on the exercise

Rescue Manager Clas Tallberg, Länsi-Uusimaa Department for Rescue Services, tel. +358 9 8168 4294
Communications Manager Satu Linkola, Länsimetro, tel. +358 46 877 3392

The west metro project has reached its most challenging phase: rock blasting. The project is well on schedule and metro traffic is expected to start as planned towards the end of 2015.

The first phase of the west metro project, the environmental impact assessment phase, was carried out in 2002. This was followed by a cost assessment, geological ground survey, locating the metro on the city plan and detailed project plan. After that, blasting began in Ruoholahti 2009.

Rock blasting is the slowest phase, and work done in the middle of a city slows the project down even more since it cannot be done at night and the blasting must be timed so as not to disturb the residentrs or damage the environment.

Almost all access tunnels and about four kilometres of metro tunnel have now been excavated. Some of the access tunnels wil become service tunnels, and the rest will be landscaped.

“As blasting progresses, test boreholes are drilled, into which water is pumped under pressure. If the rock absorbs more than 60 litres of water per minute, it is so friable that it must be stregthened with injected cement, ” explains Länsimetro Oy’s managing director Matti Kokkinen.

Work on stations and tracks can begin when the blasting is completed, in the summer of 2012. Track work will begin with the substructure, followed by surface structures and track laying. At the same time, the stations will be fitted with 56 different electrical systems, from lighting to track power supply and smoke detection systems.

The last eight months are reserved for the test drives, with the metro line’s external areas, such as escalators, platform areas, station buildings and so on, being completed simultaneously.

“Only one per cent of the work we are doing will be visible above ground,” says Mr Kokkinen.

The Helsinki City Rescue Department and the Länsi-Uusimaa Department for Rescue Services will organise a rescue exercise on the west metro worksite in Koivusaari at the address Vaskisalmenkuja 1. The exercise will take place on Thursday, 6 October from noon to 2 p.m.

The mock accident will simulate a rock falling on an employee during excavation work in the tunnel. The purpose of the rescue exercise will be to train for rescue operations in the underground tunnel and to test the cooperation of the rescue departments, Länsimetro and the contractor. The exercise is the third of its kind to be organised at a west metro worksite.

The participants will include Lemminkäinen Infra Oy, which is the contractor in Koivusaari, and the rescue departments of Helsinki city and Länsi-Uusimaa. The total duration of the exercise will be around two hours.
The exercise will not affect traffic in the area.

The public is requested to avoid the area of the exercise site where possible.

Further information on the exercise

Regional Fire Officer Marko Järvinen, Helsinki City Rescue Department, tel. +358 50 541 8459
Communications Manager Satu Linkola, Länsimetro, tel. +358 46 877 3392

West metro construction in Lauttasaari proceeding according to plan – temporary parking arrangements on Tallbergin puistotie and in Lahnalahti park.

Länsimetro is commencing construction of the entrances to Lauttasaari station. The station worksites will temporarily make it necessary to take public parking spaces out of use on Otavantie, Kauppaneuvoksentie and Gyldenintie. Some parking spaces on the courtyards of residential buildings will also become temporarily unavailable.

To compensate for the loss of private parking spaces a temporary parking area will be built at the eastern end of the sports field in Lahnalahti park. The parking area will have 40 parking spaces, with parking subject to a permit. The permits will be given to residents of the buildings affected by the worksites. The temporary parking area will be covered by municipal parking control, and is not intended for public use.

To compensate for the loss of public parking spaces temporary kerbside parking will be allowed on Tallbergin puistotie. The arrangement will result in around 25 public parking spaces. A temporary walkway will run alongside the parking spaces.

The aim is to have the temporary parking spaces available at the beginning of October.

Further information

Länsimetro Oy, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. +358 50 347 1558

The winner of the West Metro ‘Safest Metro Worksite’ competition is the Matinkylä access tunnel project, run by YIT Construction Ltd. During the period of review, from January to June, not a single accident occurred at the YIT Construction site in Matinkylä. The competition is organised semi-annually, and all current West Metro projects are participants.

The competition period was from 1 January to 30 June, and the participants were the Matinkylä and Otaniemi access tunnel projects (YIT Construction Ltd.), the Lauttasaari, Myllykallio and Koivusaari access tunnels (TYL Metro), the Keilaniemi and Karhusaari access tunnel project and the rail tunnel and station project in Lauttasaari (Kalliorakennus Yhtiöt Oy), the Ruoholahti rail tunnel project (Lemminkäinen Infra Oy), and the Keilaniemi piping and wiring transfer project (Yleinen Pohjarakennus Oy).

“We stick to the agreement at all of our sites, and that means being conscientious with safety matters too,” said general foreman Eino Lehtola of YIT Construction Ltd. on receiving the prize.

The current excavation projects of the West Metro were evaluated in the Safest Metro Worksite competition on the basis of accident frequency, civil engineering measurements (MVR)1 and environment-friendly management of extracted water. The accident frequency for each project was weighted by 60% in the evaluation, MVR measurements by 30% and management of extracted water by 10%.

In the West Metro, accident frequency calculation includes both accidents occurring to persons working at a worksite and injuries occurring to third parties through worksite activities. There were no accidents at all at the winning worksite during the competition period. A representative from YIT Construction Ltd. was handed the West Metro ‘Safest Metro Worksite’ trophy, a gilded piece of rail.

Third competition period ongoing

The Safest Metro Worksite competition runs for six months at a time. The third competition is currently under way and will end on 31 December 2011. The first competition was won by METRO, the consortium formed by Destia from Finland and Metrostav a.s. from the Czech Republic.

“The purpose of the competition is to highlight the principles of safe and careful construction,” says Matti Kokkinen, CEO of West Metro.

The competition jury includes Marjo Vuola from the Uusimaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment; occupational health and safety engineer Jukka Hietavirta from the South Finland Regional State Administrative Agency; CEO Matti Kokkinen, communications manager Satu Linkola and interaction engineer Reijo Jokela from West Metro; and the overall safety coordinators Ulla Valtonen (planning), Aku Kallio (construction preparation and procurement) and Jorma Teelahti (construction) from Sweco Oy.
By September, 3,500 m of rail tunnel had been excavated, and also almost half of the access tunnels required, about 3,000 m.

1 MVR, known by its Finnish acronym, is an observation-based method for civil engineering measurements to ensure an acceptable level of safety at an earth and water construction worksite. Information is collected on weekly observation rounds about neatness and order at worksites, storage facilities and traffic arrangements, to ensure that protective coverings and exclusion zones are sufficient and in acceptable condition.

More information

Länsimetro, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. 050 347 1558
YIT Construction Ltd., general foreman Eino Lehtola, tel. 0400 243 818

The Helsinki City Rescue Department and the Länsi-Uusimaa Department for Rescue Services will carry out a joint rescue exercise at the west metro excavation site at the street address, Lauttasaarentie 50, on Monday 5 September from 1 to 3 p.m.

The purpose is to test the functioning of communications and the co-operation between the respective rescue departments, the west metro and the contractor. This is the second such exercise to be arranged at the west metro excavation site.

A simulated accident will be used to test how well the communications function and how quickly the rescue operation progresses in the underground tunnels of the west metro. The participants will include the rescue departments of Helsinki City and Länsi-Uusimaa, as well as the contractor, Kalliorakennus-Yhtiöt Oy. The exercise will last for approximately two hours.

No disturbance expected to traffic on Lauttasaarentie
The excavation site is located at the street address, Lauttasaarentie 50. If the need arises, traffic will be redirected. The public is requested to avoid unnecessary movement near the site of the exercise.

For further information, please contact

Marko Järvinen, Regional Fire Chief, Helsinki City Rescue Department, tel. 050 541 8459
Satu Linkola, Communications Manager, Länsimetro, tel. 046 877 3392

Contractors for the Tapiola and Niittykumpu station and metro tunnel excavation selected – over 90 per cent of excavation contracts already agreed

Skanska Infra Oy has won the excavation contract for Tapiola’s station, metro and connection tunnels, as well as one shaft. In addition to the Tapiola station, the contract includes Tapiola’s turnaround track. In this contract, two approximately 1.3 kilometre-long metro tunnels will be excavated, in addition to a turnaround track of about 400 m. The value of the contract is close to MEUR 22.

Skanska Infra excavates Tapiola’s southern work tunnel. “From the excavation perspective, it’s good that the same contractor also continues as the excavator for the station and metro tunnels,” says Matti Kokkinen, CEO for Länsimetro Oy.

The Niittykumpu excavation contract was won by YIT Rakennus Oy

The contract includes the excavation of the station, access tunnel, metro and connection tunnels and two shafts. Two approximately 1.5 kilometre-long metro tunnels will be excavated during the contract. Its value is MEUR 21.6.

“At the moment, Niittykumpu has been reserved for a future metro station. A development plan project that aims at the development of the area is in progress at the moment. With the contract now beginning, preparations are being made for the future development of the area, and the goal is that the work on the Niittykumpu station will be launched in accordance with the same timetable as the other stations,” Matti Kokkinen declares.

The excavation contracts for the west metro have been agreed to the tune of 92 per cent, and one-tenth of the rail tunnels have already been excavated. The tunnel excavations will be ready in 2013. The first station contracts will already be initiated in 2012. After this, the rail contract’s next in the queue, as well as the installation and testing of the automatic train system. The west metro will be fully completed at the end of 2015.

The progress of the west metro excavations can be followed on the Internet at http://seuranta.lansimetro.fi/ (Work-monitoring service).

More information

Länsimetro, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. +358 (0)50 347 1558, matti.kokkinen@lansimetro.fi

The second phase of the matinkylä excavation work starts in July, as the Swedish contractor Oden starts their work. The work covers the excavtion of two 1.8 km tunnels, the end of the work tunnel, as well as a station and two shafts. In addition, the work includes open excavation on top of the future metro station, next to Iso Omena. All work will be carried out inside the fenced areas. The Matinkylä excavations will last around two years until November 2013.

Inspection of nearby property

Before the construction work is begun, the property nearby the excavation locations will be inspected. The inspections are conducted by Oy Finnrock Ab, authorized by Länsimetro Oy, and they will inform the tenants 1-2 weeks prior to the inspection.

Contact information

Worksite on-duty 24 h phone line 050 520 3423
Site office: Suomenlahdentie 7
Oden: Site manager Olof Korvi tel. +46 706 996 536

Inspections, vibration insulation and measurements

Kari Saukkonen, tel. 010 832 1300

Pipe and cable work will be carried out at Keilaniemi in connection with west metro construction. This will give rise to temporary street arrangements and route changes on Keilaniementie and Keilalahdentie and in the harbour area at Keilasatama.

Where work is in progress traffic will be diverted to the other side of the road. The route will remain open throughout.

The work is due for completion in autumn 2011.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Further information:
Contractor: Yleinen Pohjarakennus Oy, Mika Harju, Site Manager, tel. +358 400 400 990, mika.harju@ypr.fi
Länsimetro Oy / Sweco PM Oy: Jari Kankanen, Supervisor, tel. +358 50 344 1163, jari.kankanen@sweco.fi .