Index of Pictures / ..

 
  Large plains on the southern side of highway 6, with the highway going 100-200m behind my back. Salpa-line trenches stretch to the left and right of me, and over the hill on the right towards the taller trees. An old trenchline with the plains, and firing zone, to the left of them. More trenches, they worm around all over the hill where-ever no-one has redeveloped the land (there are houses quite near this spot). An intersection which has been mostly taken over by trees. A closeup. The trench used to have wooden sidings holding it open, but these have all rotted away over the long decades.  
 
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  A length of steel wire sticking out from the wall - this would have once held up a vertical pole which supported the wooden siding. More steel wires, I almost got my foot snagged up by them. A machine gun nest from above, with my friend standing on where the 'firing port' is - it's possible that the next would have had a wooden roof back in the forties. The 'firing port' towards the fields, now overtaken by trees and grass. This would have been reinforced by a wedge-like wooden construction as well, when it was new. The final rotted remains of a support pole can be seen inside the loop of steel wiring.  
 
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  The smae even closer by, oddly the wires have been barely touched by time and only exhibit relatively minor rusting. Better photo of a more intact trench, which shows the depth of it to a degree, they weren't excessively deep. Another intersection somewhere on the hill. Another possible MG nest at the edge of the field, with a 'firing port' dug into the ground. More trenches criss-crossing between the trees.  
 
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  Some of them have been mostly filled in already, by earth, plants and tree branches. A third intersection somewhere along the way, showing how extensive the network was. Second view to the fields, with an MG nest behind the camera - the lowest areas were supposed to be artificially flooded from the lake on the other side of highway 6 (which is on the left a short distance away). Some old junk on the opposide side of highway 6, next to the dam which was to be used to flood the other side. The dam itself, with the lake behind it - the barely visible steel hooks in the vertical concrete beams would have been meant for winches to raise the partitions.  
 
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  The permanent centre partition is not original, as it has been erected later on to prevent anyone from easily opening the dam, the end one is original. Shot from another angle, showing how the end is made of multiple concrete blocks piled up on top of each other. The third partition is missing, with only the 'rail' in the concrete reminding of where it would have been fitted. I'm not sure if the inlet is beneath the murky water, or behind the concrete end. It's possible that it could have been also plugged up later on. A closer view of the lake end, the water level is lower than it would have been then. On the far end of the concrete beams, short steel bars can be seen sticking out, these would have been for the winch cables. My friend posing a bit to show how tall and wide the dam is.  
 
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  Close-up on the row of the steel bars, opening the dam would have been slow but it was not meant to be done multiple times. From the lake end towards the other end, highway 6 lingers just above the camera's view. Final photo of the dam from the beach, with highway 6 visible in the background. The outlet hiding on the other side, it had been cemented over. Most people driving past the steel railing probably have no idea what they are driving over. A barrier made out of five lines of tank obstacle rocks, next to road 13 near Lappeenranta. This is a rare configuration, three lines would have been much more common.  
 
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  The mystery for the excessive barrier begins to reveal itself, with a lonely old gate on top of a hill and a smokestack poking from the ground below. The gate is closed with a new lock. Path from the gate suddenly goes deep underground, to a man-made cave - we didn't go there quite yet, due to a barb-wire fence. Some more WW2-era trenches on the hill around the gates and the cave, with a pile of wood from a recent harvest. Yet more trenches, and a local school showing how close this installation is to housing.  
 
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  My friend beside the mysterious smoke stack - not very subtle sight if one is supposed to hide what's underneath. Showing off the side of the smokestack, with the second one in the background to give an idea of the scale of the underground complex. The second smoke stack is oddly much more simple. View from the second stack to the first one. A second gate on the opposite side of the hill, in this end the fencing had collapsed so we could go in.  
 
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  A bit more trench, and fresh wood harvester tracks which have destroyed a part of it. Headed into the cave from the other end. The sight from the cave tunnel mouth - as it can be seen, it has two ends and descends fairly steeply from both ends. In the middle of the tunnel, with the entrance door to the complex on the right. This kind of construction prevents pressure mounting against the door if bombs drop near the tunnel entrances, and also provides a second exit if one caves in. The steel double doors, firmly locked. Apparently tours are made to this place, but we are not sure who makes them or when.  
 
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  Turning to the right, to show the end where we came in from. Attempt to show the length of the tunnel a little better, with the steel door to the left. Tank obstacle barrier near a much newer home. This shows how close to houses some of the rock lines go - Salpa-line remains are protected by law from deliberate damage or destruction, so one can't simply remove them. One last photo of a particularly well-preserved example.  
 
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