Rantatunneli - Kaupungin kasvualusta

This page requires a javaScript enabled browser to function properly.

Print version of this page at the address:
http://www2.liikennevirasto.fi/rantatunneli/print/rantatunneli_print_en.pdf,
link also at the bottom of the page

$#{ datasource.img_alt }$

Between 2013 and 2017, just over four kilometres of Highway 12 (Vt 12 Tampereen Rantaväylä) will be rerouted. Together, we have taken on a huge challenge, building a 2.3-kilometre road tunnel - the longest in Finland - along with the related interchanges and route arrangements.

Tunnel excavations are completed and the implementation phasehas proceeded well over midpoint. The project is on schedule and budget.

As it is completed in 2017, the Rantatunneli tunnel will free up a large swath of central Tampere's northern areas for the use of residents, while also providing easier access to the shoreline of Lake Näsijärvi. Rock material generated during the tunnel excavation has been used to fill in the water body for the park being created in the new Ranta-Tampella district.

The project will be carried out using the alliance model, whereby the traditional customer-service provider model has been eliminated, with the parties planning and implementing the project through cooperation. The alliance members are the City of Tampere, the Finnish Transport Agency, Lemminkäinen, A-Insinöörit, and Saanio & Riekkola.

Through innovations borne out of cooperation, we have been able to reduce any disruptions caused by the worksite, while cutting costs and speeding up processes.

We hope that this page will answer any questions raised by the project. We would also be delighted to hear about any ideas that might lead our temporary arrangements to be of better service to residents. If you have an idea, please send it to us! Our contact information can be found at the bottom of this page.

Kind regards

Esko Mulari
Alliance project manager
Rantatunnelin Allianssi

Mauri Mäkiaho
Alliance vice project manager
Rantatunnelin Allianssi

4/2014 - 12/2015
Pipe and equipment relocation

Pipe and equipment relocation refers to the relocation of cables, pipes, pumping stations and other items of municipal infrastructure located in the project area to other locations, so as to prevent them from hampering construction.

1/2014 - 6/2015
Tunnel excavation

The tunnels are being excavated using the normal drilling and blasting method: blastholes a few metres deep are drilled into the rock, and explosives and blasting caps are placed in the blastholes. The detonation of each hole is timed separately in order to ensure that the rock chips off according to plan and in correctly sized pieces.

11/2014 - 8/2016
Tunnel reinforcement and construction and systems installation

Reinforcement and compactment will be performed by means of injection, bolting and concrete spraying. In addition, the rock space will be panelled. An air conditioning and electrical system, lighting, traffic telematics equipment, and monitoring and safety systems will be installed in the tunnel.

4/2014 - 11/2016
Route construction

Construction of the Santalahti and Naistenlahti interchanges will start once pipe and equipment relocation has been carried out. These interchanges will be constructed at slightly different times. This will help us to take optimal account of the environment, efficient progress of work and the functionality of traffic.

5/2014 - 4/2016
Santalahti and Naistenlahti interchange concrete structures

The building of the concrete structures of the interchanges will occur more or less simultaneously with route construction. The northern end of the Naistenlahti interchange will be separately constructed between April and October in 2017.

7/2016 - 10/2017
Commissioning: systems testing and traffic launch

Commissioning of the tunnel systems will begin in July 2016. The tunnel will be opened for traffic in the spring of 2017. The traffic arrangements in their entirety will be ready and in use by 30 November 2017, once the roundabout north of Naistenlahti and the related solutions have been completed.

3/2018 - 7/2018 Finishing

The project area will be finished and cleaned during the spring and summer. The sides of the road will be dotted with pavement, lawn, meadows, shrubbery, and coniferous and deciduous trees.

A — Santalahti work site

In Santalahti, a separate open pit has been excavated for a work tunnel. Most excavation of the western part of the tunnel was performed via this tunnel. This has enabled an earlier start to tunnel excavation, while also allowing the construction of the Santalahti interchange's concrete structures without disrupting other work.

B — Näsinkallio work site

A work tunnel was built from Näsinkallio to the traffic tunnel. Excavation of the work tunnel, which began in Nääshalli, commenced in January 2014 and reached the traffic tunnel in April 2014. An extra ramp and space was excavated into the rock near Näsinkallio. If required, an underground connection from Rantatunneli to other parts may be constructed in this space later.

C — Naistenlahti work site

Tunnel excavation began at the Naistenlahti end in February 2014. A work tunnel was excavated first. The actual traffic tunnel was bored to the north of this tunnel during the autumn and winter of 2014/2015. The Naistenlahti interchange including concrete- and earthworks will be completed in its entirety in November 2017.

The tunnel comprises dedicated vehicle tunnels for both directions. The distance between these tunnels is between 11 and 12 metres. There are interconnecting tunnels between these tunnels at around 150-metre intervals. In addition, the tunnel includes one interconnecting tunnel large enough to accommodate vehicles for rescue and maintenance purposes.

Both tunnels feature one-way traffic with a speed limit of 60 km/h. Walking, bicycling and slow vehicles are not allowed in the tunnel.

The tunnel project constitutes around 1,000 man-years of work. In addition, the construction of the Ranta-Tampella residential district will add thousands of man-years to the total.

The alliance's number of employees will vary according to the work phase. The highest number of employees will be reached in 2015. In 2015, the alliance will have around 400 employees.

The alliance model has allowed the target cost to be determined with particular accuracy, since both the customer and provider participated in drawing up the budget.

The implementation phase began in October 2013, and the tunnel will be opened to traffic in May 2017. The finishing work will continue for around a year after the commissioning of the tunnel.

innovations — The most significant innovation consisted of beginning the excavation of the Näsinkallio work tunnel through the eastern maintenance connection for Nääshalli. This eliminated the need to reroute traffic on the Highway 12 (Vt 12 Tampereen Rantaväylä) route via a detour during the excavation, speeding up the schedule by around four months.

parties — Based on the alliance model, the customer and provider form a joint project organisation. The members of the Rantatunneli Allianssi alliance are the Finnish Transport Agency, the City of Tampere, Lemminkäinen, Saanio & Riekkola, and A-Insinöörit.

rerouting — Channelling through traffic from Highway 12 into the tunnel will reduce the load on the aboveground traffic network, since it will only have to withstand local traffic.

tunnel length — The Rantaväylä tunnel will be the longest road tunnel in Finland. It comprises two separate 2.3-kilometre traffic tunnels. Finland's longest rock tunnel, Päijännetunneli, is as long as 120 kilometres, but only water courses through it.

The project will generate a total of 750,000 cubic metres of blast stones, 650,000 of which will come from the tunnel. "Theoretical solid cubic metres" refer to chunks of rock with one-metre sides; when blast stones have been cracked off, their cubic capacity is even greater.

water body filled in — The central Tampere area will grow by 4.5 hectares after parts of water bodies in Ranta-Tampella and Santalahti have been filled in. Parks and other such sites will be built on these earth-fill areas.

Construction of a new residential district in Ranta-Tampella will begin as traffic on the Highway 12 (Vt 12 Tampereen Rantaväylä) route is reduced. Construction will start once Highway 12 traffic has been rerouted into the tunnel.

average traffic — Highway 12 (Vt 12 Tampereen Rantaväylä) is the busiest section of trunk road located outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area; its average daily traffic has increased by 11 per cent during the last 10 years.

Jyrki Lehtimäki

Gardener for the City of Nokia, Tampere resident

"To me, Tampere is one of the most beautiful cities in Finland. For that reason, it seems so unbelievable that there should be such a large area of idle land right in the middle of Tampere, while a multilane highway runs through the most beautiful spot on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi.

It has been a dream of mine that Tampere would convert central Tampere's shoreline areas for public use. This dream will come true when the traffic on Rantaväylä is rerouted into the tunnel, enabling new uses for these areas.

I hope that the shoreline areas are handed over for public use, giving those of us living in central Tampere access to the shores of Lake Näsijärvi. Tampere could learn a lesson from New York City, which is converting the shores of Manhattan for public use, building facilities such as parks on the old piers."

Jarmo Kivistö

transportation entrepreneur, Tampere resident

"In my opinion, the Rantatunneli project is not only important to Tampere but to the whole of the Pirkanmaa region, not to mention Finland's entire highway network. This is due to the high amount of bypass traffic in Tampere. This tunnel will enable more efficient and safer bypass traffic. Tampere is also a growing area and a major node in Finland's traffic network. For this reason, highways, railroads and air traffic are all important development targets.

In addition, the Rantatunneli tunnel will provide a basis for city planning, while also reducing traffic in central areas. After the tunnel's completion, Tampere must continue to develop its underground road network, while building facilities such as underground parking garages. This project will pave the way for the future of Tampere and increase the area's appeal."

Risto Laaksonen

Director in charge of orders, Development of urban environments for City of Tampere, Tampere resident

"Tampere is a growing city to which 2,000 new residents move each year. The construction of the Rantatunneli tunnel will enable us to build a new residential district in central Tampere, while also developing the central areas, including traffic.

This project will enable us to remove this large obstacle from the best location in the city. Ranta-Tampella is a great location that will now be offered to people instead of traffic. This is also an environmental project, as the tunnel will improve the noise and air quality situation in central Tampere.

This is indeed a large project and major financial investment: we are, after all, building the longest road tunnel in Finland. The project will have a great impact on our revenue via issues such as land use compensation and the employment effects of the new residential area to be built."

Miikka Seppälä

CEO of Särkänniemi Adventure Park, Tampere resident

"As a project, the Rantatunneli tunnel is beneficial to Särkänniemi: it will create completely new types of opportunities for the development and expansion of Särkänniemi as well as other recreational and amusement activities in Tampere. This means new money flowing in from outside the region, and, possibly, new jobs.

Not only Särkänniemi but the entire Tampere business sector will benefit from the Rantatunneli project. The construction phase alone will create new jobs, let alone its other financial benefits. This is not just one road; the project is important from the perspective of the construction, development and future of Tampere."

When using the traditional project model, the risks and benefits associated with the project in question are divided between the customer and provider. However, the division of risk is sometimes open to interpretation. Under the alliance model, the customer and provider are part of the same project organisation and share the project risks. This serves to ensure that everyone works toward common goals. The savings generated by the seamless progress of the project will benefit all parties.

In the case of the alliance model, unanimous decisions will be sought in response to all issues that arise for the various parties. For instance: with regard to project implementation, the roles of the parties will be jointly determined using the best possible expertise. The cooperation model will also ensure that the project can more efficiently cultivate and adopt ideas that deviate from the original plans.

Partnership-based projects have become particularly popular in Australia, from where they have been imported and adapted to Finnish conditions. The Tampere Rantatunneli tunnel is the second of four Finnish Transport Agency projects to employ the new partnership model. Finnish Transport Agency's example has increased popularity of alliancing in the construction industry. At the moment there are dozens of alliances in progress in Finland.

The Rantatunnelin Allianssi alliance is responsible for designing and constructing the Rantatunneli tunnel.
The members of the alliance are the Finnish Transport Agency, the City of Tampere, Lemminkäinen, Saanio & Riekkola, and A-Insinöörit.
The Tampere Rantatunneli tunnel is the second Finnish Transport Agency project in which the alliance model has been used.

Pekka Petäjäniemi, director of the Finnish Transport Agency's project implementation unit:

"The alliance model is ideal for the implementation of larger, difficult projects since, based on this model, the partner selection process has multiple stages. The right kind of expertise and attitude are sought for the consortium by means of various types of workshop. After the project has begun, seamless cooperation is more important than titles. The alliance model is an excellent fit for the Tampere project, since this tunnel project is challenging to implement due its location near residential areas, the railroad track and the Rantaväylä road.

The benefits of the alliance model were seen in concrete terms in this project. Over EUR 20 million worth of savings related to work methods and the schedule, for instance, were generated during product development. The traditional customer-provider model could not have yielded such benefits.

Every Finnish Transport Agency project is analysed and the optimal project model is determined for the case in hand. In the future, the alliance model will be a noteworthy option for our largest projects."

Welcome to the Tunnel!

The Tampere Rantatunneli tunnel will be under construction until 2017. After its completion, the tunnel will promote the development of Tampere's central areas, while also improving the functionality and safety of traffic.

This Is How The Work Is Being Done

Most construction work on the tunnel is being carried out hidden from sight underground. By clicking on the bars on the timeline, you can see what each phase involves. Up-to-date information on the traffic arrangements caused by the work can be found on the Finnish Transport Agency's website.