Kreate won an €8.5 million contract in Äänekoski – a new waterway bridge and roundabout will improve traffic safety in a busy area
Kreate signed a development phase agreement with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency for the D&B contract for the Mt 642 Äänekoski Bridge, which involves building a new, nearly 150-meter-long waterway bridge next to the old bridge and upgrading approximately 800 meters of the highway. The project also includes the construction of a new roundabout and the demolition of the existing bridge. The project, worth just over 8.5 million euros, is currently in the development phase, with construction expected to begin in June 2026.
The project awarded to Kreate involves building a new Äänekoski bridge across Äänejärvi to replace the bridge built in the 1950s, which has reached the end of its service life, as well as upgrading traffic arrangements and the road. The goal of the project is to ensure smoother and safer traffic and to support the growth and development of the region’s industry through efficient transportation links.
The project commissioned by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency will be carried out using the D&B model, meaning that the contractor is responsible for both overseeing the design during the development phase and carrying out the construction during the implementation phase.
“The D&B contract model offers an excellent opportunity to develop solutions together with the client even before the first shovel hits the ground. The goal is a safe, durable, and maintainable solution,” says Antti Kokkonen, head of Kreate’s bridge unit.
The development phase focuses on everything from traffic arrangements to environmental impacts
Mt 642 Äänekoski bridge project will begin in March with a development phase focused on optimising the bridge and road layout solutions, traffic arrangements during construction, and the phasing of the project. The goal is to update the preliminary construction plan, model detour routes and traffic arrangements during construction, refine the technical solutions for the bridge and road structures, and ensure that construction can proceed safely in a very confined environment.
“We utilize information model-based design, which allows us to seamlessly integrate the geometry of the area and the bridge structures with the work being carried out next to the existing bridge. Environmental impact management and water management solutions during construction also play a key role in minimizing the impact on waterways during construction and demolition,” Kokkonen explains.
The goal is to complete the development phase during the spring and move on to full-scale implementation in June. The contract value for the construction phase is just over 8.5 million euros, and Kreate will record it in its order backlog once the construction phase begins.
The work is being done right next to traffic – detours and safety are a priority
The construction site is located on a busy highway, and construction work will be carried out right next to the existing traffic throughout the project. This places exceptional demands on phasing and traffic management.
“We are constantly working in a very confined space next to the existing bridge and traffic. To ensure traffic flows safely, we carefully plan and implement detours and traffic arrangements during construction, step by step. It is important to us that residents and heavy traffic can move about with as little disruption as possible throughout the project,” says Markus Tarvainen, project manager at Kreate’s bridge unit.
Traffic management planning considers, among other things, detours, lane configurations during construction, temporary speed limits, and emergency response routes.
Putting the old bridge to good use
Once Kreate has completed the new bridge, it will be time to demolish the old bridge, which is currently under close monitoring.
“We will carefully dismantle the old bridge once we have safely diverted traffic to the new bridge. We are crushing the bridge’s concrete structures into aggregate, which we plan to reuse later in appropriate projects. As a general principle, we always aim to reduce the carbon footprint of our projects whenever possible,” says Tarvainen.
The circular economy is also supported by the fact that soil and rock materials excavated from the construction site are reused in road and embankment structures.