Tampere tramway starts operating in August 2021. Along its route, there will be three kinds of tram posts. They are supplied by Tehomet, while FSP is responsible for their surface treatment. The companies work in close cooperation in Kangasniemi.
The new tram for the city of Tampere, Tampere Tramway, is a two-phase project. The tram starts operating first from Pyynikintori to Hervantajärvi. This takes place in 2021, on a 15-kilometer long route. Planning of the second phase is already underway.
Along the tram route, there will be three kinds of posts: decorative posts suitable for spot lighting in central Tampere, round and cylindrical posts in Hervanta, and several hundred more ladder-shaped posts in the city centre, the type of which have already been installed earlier. All posts are multifunctional, serving as support structures for overhead lines and street lighting. All post types are also massive and imposing.
– We have already installed hundreds of posts as the construction has progressed, says Tomi Pasanen, Production Director of Tehomet Oy. – Overall, there will be around 700 posts.
Tehomet is the largest manufacturer of metal and wooden special lighting posts in the Nordics. FSP and Tehomet share the same facilities in Kangasniemi, where FSP is responsible for surface treatment of the tramway posts.
– The posts come with plascoat treatment. Plascoat’s coating method is similar to powder coating, but it produces a thicker, very durable coat. The surface is also thermoplastic, says Jaakko Lahikainen, Supervisor at
FSP Kangasniemi.
Tomi Pasanen says that Tehomet has a long and positive experience of plascoat.
– We were the first in Finland to use it in coating. It was first used on posts in kindergarten yards – your tongue doesn’t get stuck on plascoat in cold weather.
Plascoat surface feels different from a powder coated surface. It also works differently. If a plascoat surface gets damaged, it can be heated. This smoothens out small scratches, or it can be patched up.
TESTS AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Tehomet supplied the first plascoat-coated posts in central Tampere already in 2005.
– In that environment, the posts need to endure all sorts of wear, from varying weather to dog urine, Tomi Pasanen says.
Starting point for a durable and elegant surface is that the zinc surface underneath must also be flawless. If the zinc is not high-quality, the surface quality may end up sub-optimal as well. Overall, the key factor here is the high quality of the steel.
– We have researched materials, methods and production processes together with Tehomet for years, Jaakko Lahikainen says. – We have gained even more precise knowledge of the processes through extensive test projects. Now we have come so far that, for example, there is no pinhole effect even if the zinc surface is thicker and less tenacious than normally.
Pinhole effect means that there are visible holes on the material’s surface treatment. Lahikainen doesn’t elaborate on the pinhole solution, but hints that it was “quite a recipe”.
It is not the only problem that the two companies have tackled and solved in cooperation.
Their cooperation started in 2007, when FSP became a tenant at the same facilities with Tehomet in Lievestuore and began to do painting work for Tehomet. Next year, Tehomet invested in a powder coating chamber and subcontracted powder coating from FSP. The operations and cooperation were moved to current facilities in Kangasniemi in 2010, enabling even closer cooperation.
– FSP is a pleasant and reliable operator, Tomi Pasanen says. – We have no need whatsoever to seek another partnership.
On top of material and method proficiency, the cooperation covers various investment calculations.
– Quality control is of course crucial, too, Lahikainen says. – It is wonderful to have open communication between companies.
In addition to tramway posts, Kangasniemi has lately shipped for example striped special posts to Norway and decorative flower-shaped posts for a techno festival in Belgium. The first large project for United States is underway.
FSP Kangasniemi
Hallitie 6, FI-51200 Kangasniemi
Jaakko Lahikainen, Supervisor
+358 40 743 6193
Services:
- Washing and cleaning
- Shot blasting with natural sand or aluminium oxide
- Powder coating
- Wet coating
- Lifting capacity: 5 t
- Max. workpiece size:
5.50 x 5.50 x 15.0 m (wet coating)
1.75 x 2.30 x 12.7 m (powder coating) - (Dimensions: width x height x length)
- CE approved / FI certified (EN-1090)
