The geological work being carried out on the approximately 45-kilometer section of the Rail Baltica between Pärnu and Ikla will help assess the strength of the soil and its suitability for construction.

"We have previously conducted preliminary surveys here, drilling holes six meters deep, but in order to start designing the structures more precisely, we need to drill deeper boreholes to understand exactly how we need to design them," said Märt Maadla, project manager at Rail Baltic Estonia.

"We are using core drilling here. We are removing the core of the soil and then sending it to the laboratory, where samples are taken from each layer. And now we are going to continue southwards to the border with the Republic of Latvia," he explained.

On the section located approximately 10 kilometers from Pärnu on the Latvian side, boreholes are being drilled very precisely on the route, one every 200 meters, at a rate of around one borehole per day.

Geological surveys are also being conducted on a section of the Pärnu River, where a railway bridge will be built.

"Once the design has progressed to the point where the bridge is ready, we will see if it is possible to build a new post in the middle of the river, for example," said Maadla.

The surveys will continue until spring next year.

"We also need to conduct geological surveys on private land. To do that, we will send each landowner plans detailing how we intend to access their land and where we need to drill boreholes, and then we will await the landowner's consent," explained Maadla.

Maadla hopes construction work on the Pärnu-Ikla section can begin next year, in addition to the Tootsi-Pärnu section, north of Pärnu. Construction is already underway on the approximately 16-kilometer-long section between Selja and Tootsi.

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