In a two-bridge project, we are renovating the Ähtävänjoki and Purmonjoki bridges in Pietarsaari

Kreate’s bridge professionals are renovating the Ähtävänjoki and Purmonjoki bridges together with Sundström in Pietarsaari. The contract includes planning, implementing and a development phase. The demolition of existing bridges and construction of new bridges is part of the Highway 68 Edsevö–Pietarsaari, Phase 3 project, where traffic flow and safety on the highway are improved. At Purmonjoki, we are building a prestressed concrete cantilever bridge, and at Ähtävänjoki, a reinforced concrete continuous cantilever slab bridge.

Highway 68, Kolpintie, is the most important connection from the port of Pietarsaari and the town of Pietarsaari to National Road 8 and, via that, to the rest of Finland. Over the years, the bridges over Ähtävänjoki and Purmonjoki have become bottlenecks, especially for heavy traffic. The bridges will also be widened as part of the project.

Our project is progressing with strong bridge construction expertise, paying particular attention to demanding underwater work and its planning, among other things. Working on a busy port and industrial access road presents its own challenges.

During the demolition of the bridges and construction of new ones, traffic on the main road will be diverted at both bridges until autumn 2026. Pedestrians and cyclists will use the existing routes.

The Purmonjoki bridge will be built on large piles, and pile caps will be constructed at the ends. The Ähtävänjoki bridge, on the other hand, will be built on drilled piles. The piling work will be carried out by the special foundation builders at Kreate’s joint venture KFS Finland.

Kreate, which specialises in demanding infrastructure construction, also has another bridge project nearby, where we are renovating the Joksholma bridge in Pedersöre.

The client is the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and the town of Pietarsaari / Sundström Oy Ab, and the contract period is 11/2025–11/2026.