The giant preconstruction project for the northern part of Verkkosaari in Helsinki, which started in October 2019, has been completed about a year ahead of schedule. The original contract period would have been until October 2022, but the work was completed during November.
All in all, the project was a great success. Together with its subcontractors, planners and developers, GRK was able to finish the contract within almost a day’s accuracy according to the completion date determined at the tender stage. The project was handed over to the client with zero errors, which says a lot about the dedication that went into the work. The contract was significant for all parties, both in terms of its size and complexity. Of course, there were a lot of variables involved in such a big project as well.
“Projects that can be delivered without a list of shortcomings of any kind are very rare in the construction world, even in small projects, not to mention a project of this size. The contract of Verkkosaari also included the fact that quality management and documentation was piloted with a new maintenance model created for the owner. The maintenance model included quality data based on spatial data,” says Roope Korpela, GRK’s Construction Manager responsible for the project.
The preconstruction and street construction project for the Verkkosaari area in the northern part of Kalasatama included the construction of all the municipal technology needed for the future residential area. Seven completely new streets were built, only lacking the finishing touches, as well as a street square called Neulansilmä.
The contract included extensive excavation and filling work, as well as some quarrying work in areas such as the new canal and pumping stations. During the preconstruction work, the soil was cleaned over the entire area of 13 hectares. The total amount of contaminated land to be removed was about 220,000 cubic metres. The contract also included the renovation of the Verkkosaari basin, the construction of a 700-metre-long shore wall and wire and equipment transfers. In addition, the project included finishing touches at the wholesale market and seabed dredging work in the southern part of Kalasatama, as well as the relocation of the boat fairway.
There are plans to build homes in the Verkkosaari area for approximately 3,600 inhabitants. The seabed dredging work carried out in the contract prepared the construction site for the floating buildings planned for Verkkosaari.
The total value of the preconstruction contract commissioned by the City of Helsinki for the northern part of Verkkosaari was EUR 76.3 million.