The Vuosaari Harbour will be most modern harbour in the Baltic Sea when it is completed and the operations of the West Harbour and North Harbour are moved here. Concentrating harbour operation in Vuosaari and freeing downtown areas for residential, commercial and recreational use will have positive impacts on the environment and the entire regional structure.

A logistics area and a business park will be built next to the Vuosaari Harbour. These areas will have a different profile. Operations in the logistics area will be directly linked to the Vuosaari Harbour and involve logistics, maintenance etc. The companies in the Meriportti Business Park will take advantage of the proximity of the harbour and shipping channel.

The project is being conducted by the Port of Helsinki in cooperation with the Finnish Maritime Administration, the Finnish Rail Administration and the Finnish Road Administration. The harbour's cornerstone was laid on 7 January 2003. The harbour will go into operation in 2008 and will reach its full extent in 2009.

The goal of environmental impact assessment is to take environmental impacts into consideration in planning and decision-making, improve citizens' access to information and say in matters, and determine the need to reduce negative impacts and methods.

In addition to the assessment processes that are required by law, the impacts of the Vuosaari Harbour and traffic channels have been evaluated with an exceptionally large number of studies. The impacts of different options on nature, people, the community structure and the economy have been assessed in hundreds of studies and assessments. Impact assessment has been highly important in planning and executing the project. Steps have been taken to eliminate or reduce negative impacts on the environment at every stage of the project.

Before construction began, impacts on sea water, surface and groundwater, bird life, plant life, soil and air were assessed. All of these will be monitored during every stage of the project, from planning to operation, along with the monitoring of impacts during construction.
The purpose of environmental monitoring is to determine whether environmental impact assessments are accurate and comprehensive and on the basis of concrete data direct measures aimed at reducing impacts before, during and after construction.

Monitoring is an essential part of environmental impact assessment.
Monitoring programmes have been prepared in close cooperation with local authorities and the Uusimaa Environment Centre. Never before has a project been conducted in Finland with such broad and comprehensive monitoring measures. A large part of monitoring began in 2000, so comprehensive and long-term data on different indicators has already been obtained. Monitoring programmes include waterways and fish,  bird life, plant life, surface and groundwater.

The Vuosaari Harbour
The Harbour will cover 150 hectares and will replace an old shipyard. The total includes 90 hectares of new area, which will require 12 million cubic metres of fill. Most of this will be obtained from the tunnels for the harbour road and railway line. The business park next to the harbour will cover 75 hectares, including 50 hectares in the logistics area.
Ships will reach the Vuosaari Harbour via an easily navigable 32-kilometre fairway. The harbour will serve both stern-loading RoRo and crane-loaded LoLo vessels.  Passenger ships will continue to use the South Harbour and West Harbour. The Vuosaari Harbour will hold 15-20 ships, depending on size. 

Meriportti Business Park
The Meriportti Business Park will cover about 25 hectares. It will be bordered by a park to the south and a golf course to the west. Traffic connections will be excellent. The harbour road and railway line will connect the area to main arteries and shipping can be handled through the harbour next door. The Meriportti Business Park will be only a kilometre from the Vuosaari metro station and the Columbus shopping centre. Connections downtown will be via Vuotie and Ring Road I or using public transport. Buses will operate between the metro station and the business park.

Harbour railway line and road
The harbour railway line and road will link the Vuosaari Harbour to the main arteries along which harbour traffic will be directed. When harbour operations are moved to Vuosaari, traffic amounting to about 3,600 trucks a day will be diverted from downtown Helsinki and Ring Road I to roads that are better suited for heavy traffic. The new harbour railway line will make it possible to increase the amount of cargo transported by rail. 

Vuosaari Hamn Project
Laivanrakentajantie 2 A
00980 HELSINKI
Finland
projektitoimisto@vuosaarensatama.fi
http://www.vuosaarensatama.fi

07/01/2003

01/12/2009

case

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Urban renewal

Waterside development