Central Finland faces unprecedented road repairs due to severe weather conditions

This year, there has been an unprecedented number of landslides and other damages on roads in Central Finland, primarily due to severe weather conditions. Jari Mikkonen, head of a unit at the Central Finland Ely Centre, attributes the damage to the harsh frosts and heavy rainfall experienced last spring and summer. The volume of road repairs in the region this summer has doubled compared to previous years.

Jarkko Pirinen, an expert on road maintenance from the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, noted that frost damage was significantly higher than usual this spring across the country. Paved roads have sustained the most damage as soil materials have shifted, whereas gravel roads have recovered better from frost heave.

Last week, part of a national highway in Haapamäki, Keuruu, collapsed. Approximately half of the driving lane on Highway 23 gave way after resurfacing, with investigations currently assessing the cause of the collapse. Mikkonen suspects that heavy rains, the movement of fine embankment materials, and vibrations from the resurfacing work may have contributed to the soil layers shifting, creating a slip surface within the road embankment.

Significant repair work lies ahead, with costly endeavors expected. This summer, road repairs in Central Finland have already reached 1.4 million euros, double the typical budget. Additional funding has come from the Transport Infrastructure Agency. Mikkonen refrained from estimating the cost of the Haapamäki repairs, but a similar slip-related renovation on Highway 9 in Jämsä previously cost nearly one million euros. Official statistics on nationwide road repair costs have not yet been released.