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The Söörmarkku junction at night: a KAPU lighting pole stands lit on the right, the road's double yellow centre line runs towards the gantry signs for Pori and Söörmarkku.
The Söörmarkku junction from above at dusk: the main road and its ramps run toward the interchange under rows of lit lighting poles.
The Söörmarkku interchange from above at dusk: the bridge, the ramps and their lit poles, a lit sculpture in the green between the roads.

This pole is one of 100,000. This pole is one of 100,000.

The Söörmarkku interchange from above at dusk: the bridge, the ramps and their lit poles, a lit sculpture in the green between the roads.
The point field: 100,000 points of light in curving lines on the dark blue ground, one for each KAPU pole installed since 1994.
100,000+ installed since 1994.
The same field with 6,000 of its points turned yellow, one for each recorded impact on a KAPU pole.
6,000+ recorded impacts on real roads.

The test behind them

Every one of those yellow points goes back to a real crash test, shown as it was filmed.

The test pole folded down from its base under the stopped test car, in one piece.
Test photograph, 20 October 2010.
Frame from the archive crash test film: the KAPU-HE pole struck by a test car.
KAPU-HE, Helsinki University of Technology. Original film lost; shown as filmed. Archive upload, native 854 by 480 at 25 frames a second, seconds 69 to 82 of the film. Nothing scaled, smoothed or added; the old Sähkö-Jokinen logo is part of the document.
The orange test car with the pole under its front and the yellow and black test marking.
Test photograph DSC00030, native size 640 by 480.
The folded pole lying on the test field with people inspecting it.
Test photograph DSC00024, native size 480 by 640.

In every case the poles have performed as planned.

Ten roads

4,940 KAPU poles on ten named roads, one point for each.

  1. VT7820Finland
  2. VT4740Finland
  3. Motorway Stockholm710Sweden
  4. Keflavík–Reykjavík510Iceland
  5. Väg 86460Sweden
  6. Vilnius–Utena440Lithuania
  7. Lohja highway380Finland
  8. VT3320Finland
  9. Ring road Lahti320Finland
  10. Vallentuna240Sweden

Pole counts from the reference list. A drawn count, not a map.

Talk to Niklas LehtiAll ten roads

KAPU-HE and KAPU-NE

The KAPU dimension drawing: a conical steel pole with a single arm, on its base.

KAPU-HE

100, HE, 3

Brings the car to a controlled stop. For roads with a footway, a cycle path, trees or rock behind the pole.

Heights 8 to 18 m. Occupant safety class 3 for the 8 m and 10 m poles.

KAPU-NE

100, NE, 2

Yields and lets the car continue at reduced speed. For roads where nothing lies behind the pole.

Lighting, traffic light and sign poles. Traffic light poles 4 to 6 m, tested at 35 km/h.

What one impact costs

€1.41 million

The unit cost to society of one serious road injury in Finland.

One fatality
€2.84 million
One minor injury
€85,000

Source: Traficom 2022, unit costs of road accidents.

Documents

Certificates and declarations of performance, one click away.

In Finnish, as images; each opens in a new tab.

Niklas Lehti, Export Manager at Sähkö-Jokinen.

Talk to Niklas Lehti

Export Manager +358 50 328 7446 niklas.lehti@sahkojokinen.fi

Tell him where the road runs, how fast it is and what lies behind the poles.

Sent by email to Niklas Lehti and kept only to answer you. How we handle it

Finnish enquiries: Eetu Majalahti, Sales Manager.