Urakointiasennus M. Rautio Oy is a company founded in 1983 by Markku Rautio, who comes from the town of Kalajoki.
The company specialises in demanding steel structures, composite girder bridges and noise barriers.
“In the 80s, people wanted to get rid of ferries in Finland and especially in Lapland. This started a composite girder bridge boom, which was how I got interested in the subject. And that’s how we spent the next 10 years, really,” says Markku Rautio of the early days of the company.
The LEKO 7 aircraft hangar at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, completed in 1990, was Urakointiasennus’ first major project.
“LEKO 7 was our first really big project. When the first DC-10 planes came about, they needed a service space. That’s why the Finnish Civil Aviation Administration wanted to construct the world’s largest aircraft hangar at the time. And quickly.”
“The main dimensions were put down on a Klubi cigarette packet, and Tapani Konttinen from the company Tehdaspalkki Oy, Markku Mäkinen from the company Aaro Kohonen Oy and I started planning the job. The work was intended for someone else, but our installation methods and schedules were better, so that’s how we got the job. Construction took a year and a half, and we finished the project 8 months ahead of that agreed construction time.”
The giant, 1,065,000-cubic-metre hangar is still in use at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
The longest bridge in Finland was built in order to replace the ferry connection from the Raippaluoto islet to the mainland.
“Then we received one of our big projects, the Raippaluoto bridge. The people working at the Suunnittelu Kortes office had already learned to trust us during the bridge boom. They believed in my ideas concerning the installation technique used for the Raippaluoto bridge and its division into sections. So, we proceeded by using my ideas for it and everything went alright in the end. We spent maybe a bit less than two years working on it,” explains Markku.
Finland’s longest bridge, spanning 1,045 metres and connecting the Raippaluoto-Björkö area to the mainland, was opened to traffic on August 27th, 1997.
Projects ranging from composite girder bridges to noise barriers
We started developing noise barriers in the beginning of the 2000s for the city rail link between Ilmala and Leppävaara.
“We received our first query about an absorbing noise barrier along the city rail link between Ilmala and Leppävaara. During that time, there was only one actor besides us. We became interested in the subject and we started developing with a few experts. As a result, the Melueste Rautio absorbing noise barrier system was born.”
Since then, Urakointiasennus M. Rautio Oy has implemented more than 60 noise barrier projects in addition to other steel construction projects across Finland.
Design – Rautio Eesti OÜ
In 2011, our own design and project management company Rautio Eesti OÜ was founded alongside the Urakointiasennus company. The company’s office is located in Tallinn, Estonia.
“Having our own design and project management company means we can continue to be competitive in the future,” explains Markku Rautio.
Click here to read more about Rautio Eesti OÜ.