The world’s most beautiful tram line? A fixed-track line has been built on Finland’s longest bridge

It is a perennial dilemma as to how much car traffic can be reduced in order to make a major city a more liveable place. It seems that for the Finns, there is no question as to whether sustainability or convenience should be prioritised: on the Kruunuvuori Bridge in Helsinki – the country’s largest bridge – motorists have not been granted access even following the latest investment; only ambulances and emergency services vehicles are permitted to use it.

The 1.2-kilometre bridge, which opened in April this year, has so far been used only by pedestrians and cyclists, but from 7 November, trams will also be able to use it – reports zdopravy.cz.

The newly constructed 7.75-kilometre tram line connects Helsinki city centre with the Laajasalo archipelago: tram routes 11 and 12 reach the eastern part of the city via a total of three new bridges. The Finnish capital describes the new line as one of the world’s most beautiful tram routes.

The construction of the central pylon also required specialised technology

Construction of the structure, which features a 135-metre-high central pylon, began in 2021 and presented significant engineering challenges: in addition to the foundation and concreting work carried out in a marine environment, individual components of the bridge structure also had to be lifted into place from the water using a Norwegian floating crane.

The largest elements were over 72 metres long and weighed up to 550 tonnes. The construction of the central pylon also required specialised technology: the diamond-shaped reinforced concrete structure was built using climbing formwork, in four-metre-long concrete pours. The concreting of the pylon took around two years.