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8.3.2004

Invitation to a press conference on the construction of the E18 section Muurla-Lohja according to the life cycle responsibility model

The recipients of this document are invited to a press conference held by the Ministry of Transport and Communications concerning the construction of the Muurla-Lohja section of the E18 motorway according to the life cycle responsibility model as agreed upon by the Cabinet Economic Policy Committee on February 13, 2004. The press conference will be held 9-11 a.m. on Friday March 26, 2004 in the Ministry of Transport and Communications� Infra Hall (Etel�esplanadi 16).

The purpose of the news conference is to inform interested parties of the project and its implementation schedule, the procurement schedule, the planned life cycle responsibility model and its payment mechanism.

Programme

Opening words
Counsellor for Building Affairs Juhani Tervala, Ministry of Transport and Communications

Description of and procurement schedule for section Muurla-Lohja of the E18 motorway
E18 Project Director Matti Vehvil�inen, Finnish Road Administration 

Use of the planned life cycle responsibility model in the construction of section Muurla-Lohja of the E18 motorway
Senior Engineer Mikko Ojaj�rvi, Ministry of Transport and Communications

Possibilities for funding
Legislative Counsellor Tytti Noras, Ministry of Finance

Discussion

Attendees must sign up by Wednesday March 24 with Leila Helin ([email protected] or 09-160 28489)

Additional information: 
Juhani Tervala (09-160 28482 or 050-5527 260)
Mikko Ojaj�rvi (09-160 28574 or 0400-438 520)
Matti Vehvil�inen (0204 22 4651 or 0400-833 119)

13.2.2004

Procurement kicks off for the E18 section Muurla-Lohja

The ministerial working group appointed by the Cabinet Economic Policy Committee has completed its report outlining transport facility policy for 2004 - 2013. One of its main points is the proposal that section Muurla-Lohja of the E18 motorway should be constructed using the life cycle responsibility model and that the project should be included in the first supplementary budget of 2004. This project is the first of a possible series to be implemented according to the life cycle responsibility model.  

Under the life cycle responsibility model, the last, 50-km-long, section of motorway to be completed between Turku and Helsinki will be carried out as a long-term public-private partnership. The procurement model includes detailed road planning, construction, maintenance and temporary funding. The suggested agreement period is 2005 - 2029. The ministerial working group has proposed earmarking around 700 million euros for the project, an estimated 335 million euros of which would be earmarked for construction.

Due to the length of the agreement period, the life cycle responsibility model will increase cost effectiveness, aid risk optimisation and be more adaptable to individual project requirements. The contractor will only be reimbursed after the motorway has been opened for traffic. This will encourage the contractor to get the road ready for use more quickly. The aim is to have the whole Muurla-Lohja section open for traffic by the end of the year 2009, with its first, 25-km-long, section Muurla-Lahnaj�rvi being completed 1-2 years earlier.

The procurement process will be kicked off with a procurement notice in an official EU journal in February. Interested contractors can then contact the purchaser who submitted the notice by the end of May. The tender documents will be sent to 4-6 selected contractors in late August. The aim is to have a signed agreement by late summer 2005. Considering the size of the project, it should spark considerable interest also among Nordic and Central European contractors.

Road plans and associated news 

The completed road plans were on display in Nummi-Pusula and Sammatti 12.11. - 11.12.2001 and in Lohja 1.2. � 4.3.2002. All complaints were examined by the municipal authorities and then by the Road District. As a result, some changes were made to the plans. The final plans were approved by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in November 2002. The plans were appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which gave its ruling on December 31, 2003. The appeals were mostly dismissed (cf. the Central Administrative Court ruling: http://www.kho.fi/paatokset/23583.htm). 

A summary of the EIA programme (pdf, 366 kB, 9.4.2002) for the treatment and disposal of contaminated soil from the Lempoonsuo firing range. The assessment report was completed in the summer of 2002, while the Uusimaa Regional Environment Centre published its own report on November 7, 2002. On January 8, 2004, the Uusimaa Regional Environment Centre granted an environmental permit for disposal of the contaminated soil in the ramp loop of the Lempola grade-separated intersection. 

Assessment of the flying squirrel population 

The Finnish Road Administration has carried out a supplementary environmental assessment while drawing up the road plan for highway 1 (E18). The assessment concerned flying squirrel populations and habitats in the region between Muurla and Lievi�, and was completed on June 20, 2001. Assessment of the flying squirrel population. 

In June 2002, the Regional Environment Centres granted an exceptional permit that flying squirrel habitats may be encroached on. 

Bulletin on the flying squirrel assessment 26.6.2001 (pdf, 21 kB). 

The appeals made against the Regional Environment Centres� rulings were dismissed by the Administrative Court of Turku in June 2003 and by the Administrative Court of Helsinki in September 2003. The ruling was appealed up to the Supreme Administrative Court, which rendered its verdict on December 31, 2003. The ruling allowed the construction of the road as planned (cf. the Supreme Administrative Court ruling: http://www.kho.fi/paatokset/23555.htm).