A major lifting operation began work on the tram line in Tikkurila

Construction of the rail tunnel can begin once all details of the tram contract have been agreed upon during the summer.

The Vantaa tram project progressed in Tikkurila, as four bridge girder sections were lifted into place over the main line during the night between Monday and Tuesday.

Destia’s project manager Pekka Kivelä says that the operation, which had been prepared for months, was a great success despite the rain.

Lifting operations will continue in August and September, and the track auxiliary bridges will remain in place until 2028.

On the night between Monday and Tuesday, four giant bridge girder blocks rose into the air and landed in their correct positions at Tikkurila station.

The task may sound easy to the layman, but in the cramped space of the main line, with a four-hour time limit and swaying beams, the operation could have gone wrong.

“Fortunately, it was quite calm, and the rain was light,” Destia’s project manager Pekka Kivelä commented on the performance.

Contractor Destia and its partners had been preparing for the lifting of the four bridge sections for months, ever since the tender.

Destia is involved in the alliance for the western section of the Vantaa tramway, which is building 12 kilometers of tramway from Tikkurila to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

The tram project is still in the development phase, but the intention is to advance the preparation of the tunnel under the main line. When the development phase ends after the summer, construction of the tunnel can begin under the temporary bridges.

The bridge blocks are part of the railway auxiliary bridges, on which train traffic will pass during tunnel work.

Suburban train tracks 5 and 6 were out of service after Midsummer. They will return to service after July 17th.

The track auxiliary bridges and other temporary platform structures will remain in place until 2028.

Giant bridge girder blocks were lifted into place in light rain. Photo: Alexei Kesonen/Destia

However, the lifting operations will not end on Tuesday night. Even larger beams will be lifted in late August, and there will be one more beam lifting operation in September.

According to Kivelä, the tunnel work is being carried out by approximately the same team that built the Kaisan Tunnel under the Helsinki railway yard.

Destia had booked two nights for the lifts, but because this time the lift was completed the night before Tuesday, the crane was able to be sent out.

“I had asked to send thumbs-up messages if the night work went well. There had been several of them by morning,” Kivelä says.