Bridge accident in Espoo | The footbridges at the Tapiola crash site will be dismantled

City|Bridge accident in Espoo

At the Tapiola bridge accident site, one of the footbridges crossing Itätuulenkuja has already been demolished and the other is being demolished.

Espoo Demolition work has begun at the site of the bridge accident in Tapiola in May.

The temporarily built eastern scaffolding bridge has already been dismantled, says the CEO Kristo Herold from the MaxBuild company. Director of Communications at YIT Maija Taimi on the other hand, says that the demolition of the temporary western scaffolding bridge is also currently underway. Länsisilta runs from Merituulentor to the southern edge of Itätuulenkuja next to Omnia’s office.

The west bridge has crossed Itätuulenkuja, and a temporary wooden bridge is being built near it over Itätuulenkuja. The goal is to have it open by the end of August, the city’s press release says.

The progress of the demolition works can be followed on the city of Espoo’s website via live camera.

In addition to the wooden bridge, a stair connection from the south end of the Tuulikin Bridge to the ground level will be implemented in the area. From there, the connection continues around the construction site to Itätuulenkuja. According to estimates, the connection will be completed at the beginning of August.

The map published by the city of Espoo earlier this summer shows the traffic arrangements of the Tapiola construction site. The map is still up-to-date, even though, for example, the eastern scaffolding bridge has already been dismantled. Picture: City of Espoo

Tapiolan on May 11th, an accident occurred near the metro, when a temporary footbridge collapsed. At the time of the accident, there were elementary school students on a class trip on the bridge, 27 of whom were injured.

The accident is being investigated by both the West Uusimaa police and the Accident Investigation Center (Otkes). According to Otkes’ report, the pedestrian bridge had several deficiencies.

The investigation report states that the weakest point of the bridge was the fastening parts of the ends of the transverse beams. The sections buckled open, causing the cross beams of the bridge, the scaffolding levels and the plywood sheets on top of them to fall down.

The bridges were closed after the accident.