Remediation in the Sulkavuori wastewater treatment plant, Tampere

Between June 2018 and July 2019, we carried out environmental remediation for the Lakalaiva landfill in Sulkavuori, Tampere, Finland. The objective of the remediation was to eliminate the risks to people and the environment from the landfill. The landfill had been used to receive, among other things, industrial and municipal waste and sewage sludge.

After the remediation, the former landfill site will house the mainly underground central wastewater treatment plant for the Tampere region.

Our work consisted of three different phases: covering the landfill, carrying out the regional contract, and building the dam wall.

In the first and second phases, we removed the contaminated soil beneath the future buildings and built the dense structures previously missing from the landfill. At this point, we also excavated down to the bedrock, where YIT’s Mining and special construction unit created the foundations for the treatment plant’s above-ground buildings and digestion silos.

Originally, the client had plans for a slurry wall structure on the southern edge of the landfill. At the top of the deep section of the structure the client had planned a sheet pile wall. This solution would not have been optimal for the containment of the landfill and its seepage, and as its implementation involved many uncertainties and occupational safety issues, it was replaced by a jet-injected dam wall in accordance with our proposal.

After the successful construction project, our work ontinued for another four years in the area, where water and gases need to be treated. During this time, we ensured that no contaminants in excess of the recommended values will enter the city’s sewage network.