Lastrada: digitalisation in road construction allows for faster and more precise operations and less human resources

Lastrada is a road construction company with its registered office in Saulkrasti and its operational base in Bīriņi, Limbaži Municipality. The company was founded in 2018 and has been actively operating in the road construction market ever since, carrying out various types of projects and regularly participating in public procurements. During this time, the company’s team has gained significant practical experience by implementing projects of varying scales and complexities across Latvia. Currently, the company feels firmly established in the market, while following industry developments, particularly digital solutions, which are having an increasingly significant impact on the road construction sector as well. 

The company’s founder and CEO Mārtiņš Mednis explains that he has been involved in the road construction sector since his early youth—starting with summer jobs in the industry and continuing with engineering studies specialising in transportation infrastructure at Riga Technical University. After graduation, he worked for more than ten years at a road construction company, where he climbed the ladder from assistant construction manager to construction manager and later to project manager. “At one point, I realised that I had reached the limits of my growth at my previous job and there was nowhere else to go. I wanted to test my abilities, so I decided to try my hand at it and founded a company,” says Mr Mednis. 

Initially, the company was also active in the construction sector, but already in its first years of operation, the focus gradually shifted to road construction. Currently, Lastrada works primarily with local governments, private businesses, and industrial park developers, and also acts as a subcontractor on select projects for state highway construction. The company has carried out projects in the Riga region, Saulkrasti, Sigulda, Riga City, the Jelgava area, Vecpiebalga, and elsewhere in Latvia. 

In recent years, the company has experienced growth. As Mr Mednis reveals, the company’s turnover has grown from just over EUR 1 million in its early years to EUR 4.4 million last year. As the company has grown, so has its fleet of equipment. Currently, Lastrada has approximately 20 pieces of equipment at its disposal, including tractors, trucks, and other machinery necessary for road construction. The company employs approximately 15–18 people, and although seasonality plays a significant role in road construction, the company strives to maintain a stable core team throughout the year. 

“The labour shortage in the industry is becoming increasingly pronounced. It’s hard to find good employees, so we try to keep the team together even during the winter. If we let everyone go in the fall, we’d have major problems finding new people in the spring,” Mr Mednis explains. 

To increase work efficiency and reduce dependence on human resources at job sites, Lastrada has utilised support from the Digitalisation Programme of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA). The company has implemented two digitalisation projects in which road construction equipment has been equipped with automation solutions: an automated system for a grader and robotic total station control for a skid steer loader. The first project cost just over EUR 80 000, while the second was approximately EUR 40 000. In both cases, the possibility of 50% co-financing was a key factor in the decision-making process. 

“We had been considering such digitalisation solutions before, but the investments are quite large if they must be fully financed from our own funds. When the opportunity to obtain co-financing arose, there wasn’t much to think about—the decision to participate in the project was made immediately,” Mr Mednis says. 

Simply put, the automation system allows the machine operator to work with a digital project displayed on the machine’s screen. The machine is equipped with antennas and control systems that help automatically adjust the working tool according to the required elevation marks and the designed terrain. 

Previously, performing such work on-site often required additional personnel, for example, to place elevation markers, monitor the level, and provide guidance to the machine operator. Now, a large part of these processes can be automated. 

“Whereas before, stakes with elevation marks were driven into the roadside and the operator would look out the window while driving or have someone nearby adjust the height—whether it needed to be higher or lower—these tasks are now largely eliminated. The operator can work alone, without involving additional people,” explains Mr Mednis. 

The company’s manager emphasises that the benefits aren’t just labour savings. Automation helps increase work precision and reduce the risk of rework—the job is done right the first time. “As a result, we can complete a larger volume of work in a given time frame than before, and with higher quality. This, in turn, also significantly reduces the company’s expenses—fuel and other resource consumption,” says Mr Mednis. 

Competition in the road construction market in Latvia is fierce. As Mr Mednis points out, public tenders often attract around ten bidders, sometimes even more. Therefore, the company’s advantage lies in its flexibility, its ability to adapt quickly to various projects, as well as the digitalisation solutions implemented in recent years. 

Speaking about future, the CEO of Lastrada emphasises that the main goal is not to increase revenue.  The company is focusing more on efficiency, improving work processes, and further digitalisation. “Right now, we’re looking more toward digitalisation: how to equip more pieces of equipment with these systems so that work becomes simpler and as few human resources as possible are needed on-site,” says Mr Mednis. 

Information material prepared with the support of the Recovery Fund. The author is solely responsible for the content of this publication. The views expressed herein do not reflect the official position of the European Union or the European Commission.