The work of Kreate’s track professionals included the extension of the Juurikorpi passing place, the removal of four track switches and the construction of new ones, the renewal of two track drums and cable routing work. The contract also included track underlay and support structure work, such as excavation and the making of retaining walls and pile slabs.
In Juurikorpi, the soft rock area made the excavation next to the track and the construction of the sheet pile wall and pile slab under the track into the most demanding work phases of the project. The large loads to be transported and the very tight schedule made changing the switches more challenging. Excavation and installation of bridge drums were carried out during the 96-hour track shutdown in Midsummer 2022. In addition to Kreate Rata, Kreate’s transport infrastructure construction experts and the piling and sheet pile wall professionals of Kreate’s joint venture KFS Finland were also involved.
The distance between Kouvola and Juurikorpi is Finland’s busiest rail section for freight traffic, where the expansion of the train passing place, the improvement of the track area and the increase of the maximum axle weight of the track to 25 tons enable a significant increase in the number of trains.
As a whole, the Kouvola–Kotka/Hamina project will be completed in 2025, and Kreate’s portion of it was completed in October 2023. The cost estimate of the project, which was commissioned by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, is 133.5 million euros, of which the share of Kreate Rata was five million euros.
