Construction | A contractor goes bankrupt: Several large construction sites in Helsinki suddenly collapsed

Helsinki the works on the city’s central construction sites are delayed due to the contractor’s bankruptcy.

The land construction company EM Pekkinen Oy, which filed for bankruptcy, has worked on projects of the city of Helsinki in Longinojanpuisto in Malmi, Siltasaarenkatu in Kallio, near Maria’s former hospital in Kamppi and on Katajanokanlaitur.

Head of the project construction unit Liisa Taskila from the urban environment industry says that the contracts were all those where the work is in progress. Many of the work phases of unfinished contracts are critical.

On Thursday, the bankruptcy trustee informed the city of Helsinki that the bankruptcy estate will not commit to completing the work. The city therefore has to cancel the contract contracts and get new contractors to complete the projects.

Taskilan says that next week the city will go over the unfinished works and agree on their continuation. It is possible that direct procurement will be used for critical works and some contracts will be tendered.

“For each contract, we look at what is the most reasonable way to proceed,” says Taskila.

Longinojan the work has been continued by the city’s own construction service company Stara, because the ELY center had set Sunday as the deadline for the work phases that burden Longinoja, so that the spawning of the trout coming into the river is not disturbed.

“These critical work phases were completed there this week,” says Taskila.

In Maria’s campus area, the approaching winter sets a critical time limit, as the casting of the bridge deck of the future light traffic bridge in the area was left unfinished.

“It has to be done before winter comes so that the reinforcements don’t rust,” says Taskila.

The contract for the hospital area was originally scheduled to be completed in June 2025.

Taskila regrets that construction site delays affect the everyday life of townspeople and companies.

Most According to him, Siltasaari’s street renovation is causing inconvenience to residents and businesses in the area.

Critical drainage work on the metro hall deck was interrupted at the construction site. It is likely that the surface work on the street will not be done before winter, which is why the finishing work will only be done after the snow in the spring.

The construction site, which started at the end of March, was originally supposed to be ready by the end of November.

The restaurants in the brand new Lyyra block have been already cramped due to street renovation. One of the restaurants that opened in the spring already had time to put its operations on hold in July due to street renovations.

The sudden stoppage and delay of several construction sites cause inconvenience not only to the residents and businesses in the areas, but also to the city and additional investigation work. The costs of the contracts can also rise significantly.

“The costs are taken into account when we think about the continuation of the contracts, but at the moment our number one priority is to get these contracts to continue,” says Taskila.

The least The effects of the contractor’s bankruptcy are on Katajanokanlaitur, where work had not been properly started. The contract for Satamakatu and Katajanokanlaitur was only ordered in July, when the bids were also valid from other contractors who submitted bids.

Taskila says that with regard to Katajanokanlaitur, discussions are continuing with VRJ, which placed second in the competition

“We had just had time to make traffic arrangements and site preparation work there, which of course can have an impact, but otherwise we had not had time to get the actual work started,” says Taskila.

EM Pekkinen Oy has also worked as a contractor in the renovation of Havis Amanda square. The renovation is complete, but according to Taskila, the acceptance of the contract and the final financial settlement have yet to be done.

Be the first to report about the delay in the works Helsinki News.