The Veturitie bridge in Pasila has been built in stages, with the time for the last traffic arrangement before opening the bridge now at hand. Traffic will be rerouted from the north side bridge to the south side on Monday, 31 July. The effect on road users will be minor. The new route will be clearly marked before the bridge’s southside entrance. The traffic arrangement is to carry out the asphalt surface and finishing work on the north side of the new bridge and complete the end of the southern bridge and the northern Railway Yard Quarters.
The bridge work started in June 2021. The demolition of the old bridge and the construction of the new one were carried out in three stages to accommodate the busy car and train traffic.
“First, we built a new three-lane wide bridge on the north side, to which traffic was rerouted in summer 2022. At the same time, we erected a demolition scaffolding under the old bridge, making it possible to demolish the old bridge without disturbing train traffic. In the second phase, we built a new four-lane bridge in place of the dismantled bridge to serve as the southern half of the new bridge. The third phase includes finishing the bridge deck’s southern end,” explains Jyrki Perokorpi, Project Manager at Kreate.
Seven new bridge lanes in use in October
Part of the Veturitie and Railway Yard Quarters project, the new Veturitie bridge will be three times wider than the old bridge. Instead of three lanes, the new bridge will have seven lanes with separate pedestrian and bicycle ways running along the sides. The demolition and construction work of the bridge, which included quarrying alongside the railway and pile drilling between the tracks, have been strictly scheduled.
“There are eight tracks under the Veturitie bridge with points, electric track equipment, safety devices and other structures to be avoided in the area. The construction of the work bridge for the demolition work, excavation work a few metres from the tracks, getting the piling rigs between the tracks and demanding lifting operations were carried out at night to ensure uninterrupted train traffic,” Perokorpi says.
“We have managed to stay on schedule and proceed with the complicated and demanding work phases with minimum impact on train traffic,” Perokorpi continues.
The project also includes the Radioportti underpass and the new access and collector streets in the Railway Yard Quarters area, most of which are now ready and in use. Road users get to test the new impressive bridge complex by the end of October 2023, when the project is due to be completed.
The Veturitie bridge is part of the City of Helsinki’s Veturitie and Railway Yard Quarters project, including widening Veturitie between Höyrykatu and Hakamäentie for smoother traffic flow and building new access and collector streets in the Railway Yard Quarters area. The contract entails renewing the Veturitie bridge and building the Radioportti underpass. The low-emission construction site is part of the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2030 plan.
