“The increased bitumen prices have significantly reduced paving volumes, up to hundreds of kilometres on the entire road network compared with 2020,” says road maintenance expert Ossi Saarinen from the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.
In 2021, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and the Ely Centres spent approximately EUR 185 million on paving state-governed roads. This covered paving, patching and road marking.
Although the paving volumes fell, road users’ satisfaction with the condition of roads increased slightly from 2020 according to a study by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. This can be partly explained by the fact that higher paving volumes of 2020 were reflected in the feedback with a delay of approximately one year.
The development of funding and material prices will determine the paving volumes we will achieve in the coming years.