"If houses were removed from the landscape, infrastructure would remain. The buildings are standing, the infrastructure is a mess", summed up Janne Suntio, who hosted the study counselors' introduction morning. The infra sector, suffering from a labor shortage, became familiar in October in Tampere.
Vetovoima ry of construction and real estate service industry Janne Suntio receives guests in the lobby of Tampere's Torni hotel. Poheensorina fills the breakfast restaurant as the 34 study counselors who have signed up for the program refuel their energy for the morning program.
The joint message of Tampere's construction industry educational institutions and industry organizations to study supervisors is that the infrastructure sector is now providing good employment and is suffering from a skills shortage. Really big construction projects are starting and being planned in Pirkanmaa, for example.
Project manager Antti Knuutila The transport and infrastructure competence development forum reminds us that infrastructure projects such as the Tampere tramway and the capital's Ring Road and Länsimetro show the strong growth of urban areas. Good infrastructure is the backbone of the urban structure, which guarantees routes within and between cities and functional commuting traffic.
On the terms of a human and a flying squirrel
The tramway site will spread to the big screen, when Tampere University of Applied Sciences graduate in late 2017 Santeri Heinonkoski begins his presentation to apprentices. Heinonkoski knows the root of the subject well, because he has already managed to get a job as a project engineer for the Rail Alliance.
The show goes through the trolley route point by point. Safety is being improved at intersections where accidents have occurred. The possibilities of flying squirrels to jump over the track section being built in the middle of the forest have been taken into account. Observations and photographs show that the trolleys and stops are accessible and the installation of paving stones on Hämeenkatu is manual work.
Sami Jaakkola works like Heinonkoski with VR Track. Jaakkola is responsible for the measurements of the tramway project.
He illustrates how digital tools and information modeling revolutionize the work of excavator drivers and terrain measurements.
"Measuring used to mean that the planners made the plans and the surveyor marked them on the ground for construction. Today, the work is made easier by model-based construction, where three-dimensional plans are transferred remotely directly from the office to the excavator's screen and to the machine control system."
Excavators in the data network
Jaakkola logs into the map-based project management system. From the system built on top of Google Maps, it can be seen that the machine operator is currently digging track bases at the site. In addition to the location, the system tells, among other things, which intermediate floor layers have been made at the site and what the height of the ground is at any given time.
While the driver digs, he takes the exact, i.e. measurement points, of his work. With them, the office can verify that the final result corresponds to the 3D plan. Material is saved, and unnecessary work is not done.
With model-based construction, the work of an earthmoving machine operator has changed substantially. The machine control system advises the driver to dig in exactly the right place according to the plans. With the help of data models, the work trace is consistent, even if there are several factors. The surveyors mainly only go to check that the work of the machines and the machine control systems are in order.
Easy digital tools
Opoja wonders how easy it is for users to learn new systems.
Sami Jaakkola tells an example from the construction site. The driver said that he had been doing excavator work since 1976, and had never used a machine-controlled machine before, but he was just glad that something new was coming.
Jaakkola showed how to start the machine, and the driver learned how to use it right away.
LIKE's Antti Knuutila adds that the machine control system has been introduced to students using a game simulator, and the young people have learned how to use the system very easily.
The project management system used in the project works in the field with Android phones and tablets. When there are surprises or otherwise documentable issues, the employee forwards information about them to the system. Historical information and documentation naturally remain available for the entire project.
As an example, Jaakkola shows a picture taken from the construction site, which, like other stored information, is available to everyone. When the next worker enters the terrain at the same point, he receives the information from the machine about what has happened before.
"We don't even have to teach this anymore. Students know how to use mobile phones", education manager Mika Uronen the vocational college Tredu points out.
Will a machine take human jobs?
When is a machine operator no longer needed? According to VR Track's Jaakkola, it is still a long way off, also because of safety. The route may have, for example, underground structures that are not necessarily visible on the maps.
"The data reserve created with information modeling is available throughout the entire life cycle of the project. The information will still be stored even 30 years from now, when repair construction is carried out," Antti Knuutila reminds us.
According to him, data model-based construction is now strongly visible in theses. In addition to degree courses, information modeling education is offered in continuing education courses.
Sami Jaakkola reflects that it is often too easy to think that school comes first, then work life. Today, even in working life, you can study continuously in order to keep up with the development of the field. For example, in the field of infrastructure, model-based construction is being developed at a fast pace right now, and Finland is a pioneer in the development.
Santeri Heinonkoski adds that the students graduating now will get to create a completely new standard.
Engineering students: "A very neat industry!"
During the familiarization day, the study counselors had the opportunity to interview two more construction engineering students. Sofa Hyvärinen studies another and Aleksi Jokela fourth year at Tampere University of Technology.
"In this field, you can influence big things. You can decide on the future of the entire city's traffic or housing, or even combat climate change. The scale is incredible," Jokela mentions.
"Yes, and there are many options, you can plan everything from summer cottages to shopping centers or tramways. You don't just graduate from TUT in one specific profession, you get such a wide-ranging education and a strong expert base that you can do almost anything," adds Hyvärinen.
Both remind that Tampere offers many types of training in the infrastructure sector not only at TUT, but also at TAMK and Tredu.
Jokela's career choice was already clear in middle school. Hyvärinen made the choice by chance and only got excited about the industry after he got in, when he realized what a good choice he had made.
"This is a completely different world than what I had ever imagined."
Text: Eeva Hirvola-Kostamo
The tram alliance is formed by the city of Tampere as the customer and the service providers YIT Rakennus, VR Track and Pöyry Finland. 65 people work in the Alliance's common facilities, the so-called Big Room. 200–300 professionals are hard at work on construction every day.
Read the whole story in Infra magazine 4/2017!
In the Big Room of the alliance project, the project is planned and managed, and construction is coordinated together with the forces of several companies. Watch the video to see what happens there!
Teppo Viinikka, surveying director of the tram alliance, started his engineering studies in addition to his work this fall. Machine control systems are interesting. Watch the video of Tepo's antics.