Construction progressing on permanent connection to Hailuoto in Finland

Construction of the permanent connection to Hailuoto is progressing smoothly, in some areas even ahead of schedule. If everything continues to proceed as planned, the embankment road for construction traffic from Oulunsalo to Hailuoto will be completed by the end of the year. Work began nearly five months ago.

“We have made it about three kilometers from the Oulunsalo ferry terminal towards the sea. Another three kilometers remain before reaching the Huiku Bridge,” said Timo Takala, project manager for GRK Finland, which is overseeing the construction of the connection.

An approximately 8.4-kilometer road will be built between Oulunsalo and Hailuoto, which will include two bridges in addition to the embankment section. The road, intended to replace the ferry service, is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.

Bridge construction is also progressing well. According to Takala, the Huiku work bridge in Hailuoto is nearly complete, and soon, they will begin erecting the bridge’s caissons, icebreakers, and pillars. At the Oulunsalo end, significant work has been done on the Riutu bridge since July, including piling operations.

The fixed connection between Oulu and Hailuoto requires 2.3 million cubic meters of aggregate material. This involves about 200 truckloads of materials arriving at the work site daily from three extraction sites.

“The filling work progressed well over the summer for the first fill level of the embankment, and no subsidence has been observed. Currently, the embankment has 3-4 meters of rock material. It is highly compacted and will compress further as trucks continue to travel across it,” Takala noted.