Autumn greetings from our infrastructure construction site
KSBR’s infrastructure construction projects this fall include Vestia Oy’s retention basin project and an earthworks contract for the new Taanila business center in Ylivieska. Below, the latest from both worksites.
KSBR Infra is capable of implementing large-scale and demanding infrastructure construction projects – like for roads, real estate, energy networks, and urban infrastructure. They’ve made some convincing displays of their expertise and reliability over the past few years – particularly in wind power projects.
Here, at the time of this interview in late September, Project Manager Janne Somero and Supervisor Teuvo Viljamaa report on the progress of two ongoing projects.
Both men are involved in the construction of a seepage water retention basin commissioned by Vestia Oy. Vestia is a waste management firm owned by 16 municipalities, responsible for waste management and the recycling network in the Central and Northern Ostrobothnia regions. KSBR is acting as the primary contractor in the construction work, which began in early July 2025.
“We’re doing the earthworks and basin construction ourselves in this project. We’ve also got subcontractors involved in excavation, asphalting, and electrical contracting,” says Somero.
The construction site is in a waste center area where large amounts of seepage water accumulate, particularly during heavy rains and spring floods. Seepage water strains the municipal sewer network, so a retention basin is now being built to allow the water to be drained into the sewer network in a more controlled, gradual manner.
“We’ve built a basin with a volume of approximately 1,800 cubic meters with earthworks, and its surface is now being compacted by asphalting. For us, the job primarily concerns earthworks. Concrete is used only in the basin’s drain channels, through which it’s filled and emptied. Otherwise, the building materials are stone, blasted rock, and crushed stone.”
“We’ve also been able to use some recycled materials in the project. For example, we’ve used crushed concrete to build the embankments,” adds Viljamaa.
Depending on the stage of construction, KSBR has had approximately 2–5 employees working on site in addition to site supervisors. In total, there have been around 10–15 people working with various subcontractors, most of whom have been involved in asphalting.
Work moves forward with high standards and on schedule – despite some surprises
Viljamaa describes Vestia Oy’s project as basic earthworks. That falls well within KSBR’s area of expertise, although earthworks is usually only one phase in a turnkey contractor’s project portfolio.
According to Somero, KSBR’s particular strengths in infrastructure construction include the use of machine control. The starting point is the machine control models created using CAD, according to which the various structural forms, elevations, and other details are implemented on the construction site.
“We’re skilled in machine automation management, and our skilled professionals use our own equipment for practical construction. All of this has been necessary in this project, because the schedule is quite tight and the work has involved moving a lot of large masses.”
“Using automation is a significant advantage that generates cost efficiency,” Viljamaa confirms.
Retention basins are relatively uncommon projects. Similar basins aren’t built very often in Finland, especially in waste management center environments. In practice, the work has proceeded without any major challenges – though not entirely without surprises.
“The nature of the work did change somewhat from the original plans, which didn’t involve much rock excavation,” notes Viljamaa.
“True,” continues Somero. “We received drilling data from preliminary soil surveys which indicated that about 150 cubic meters of rock would need to be excavated. In the end, it amounted to almost 1,000 cubic meters. So there was much more rock than anticipated.”
At the time of this interview, in late September, the asphalting of the retention basin has already reached its final stages. In addition to that, only certain electrical work and finalizations are left, so according to Somero, the entire project will be completed as agreed by October 10.
“We’re on schedule. And the client has been very pleased with our work in general – we’ve received a lot of praise and thanks for the success of the project. They were particularly pleased with the solution-oriented approach taken by the project supervisor team across the various stages of the project.”
The Taanila business center project in Ylivieska
A new business center is currently being constructed in the Taanila neighborhood of Ylivieska. It’s one of the city’s key vitality policy projects, with a total budget of 20.5 million euros.
The head contractor on the construction project is Rave Rakennus Oy. KSBR is working as a subcontractor, with Janne Somero serving as project manager for KSBR.
“The business center will be built on old farmland, and the total area to be built is approximately four hectares. It’s a significant project for Ylivieska, which will create a second commercial hub in the city in addition to the existing Savari area,” says Somero.
For KSBR, work on the site began during midsummer week, on June 17. The earthworks include piping, wells, retention basins, and separator systems for the outdoor area.
Planning and construction proceed simultaneously
As a full-service contractor, KSBR carries out a wide range of infrastructure projects, but according to Somero, it’s rare that they work solely on earthworks. Overall, the project has progressed well. There haven’t been any particular surprises, though, since the conditions of the site had been thoroughly researched in advance.
“A special feature of this project is that the plans for the site are not yet complete. The design is progressing on the end customer’s side, at WasaPlan Oy, at the same time as construction. Although this always brings its own challenges, everything has gone well. There are kilometers of pipes underground at the site, but we were able to get them installed at the correct height right away and haven’t had to make any adjustments,” says Somero.
“Right now, we’re working on pipeline trenches. Then we’ll start installing the capillary fringe under the building’s floor, followed by floor and frost insulation, the remaining wells, retention basins, and separator systems in late autumn.”
In this project, too, KSBR’s great advantage lies not only in its own skilled professionals and machine resources, but also in its strong command and utilization of machine control. All machine control models were prepared in advance for the site, enabling practical construction to proceed accurately and efficiently.
According to Somero, depending on the work stage, approximately 10–15 KSBR professionals and their machinery are at work on the Ylivieska site.
“We’ve also got some fresh professional expertise involved. Eero Tervamäki, who has worked for us before, is currently working as a supervisor trainee while finishing his engineering studies. He’s being helped along by Matias Niemi-Korpi, and this fall Jari Kinnunen will join the team to help Eero finish up his final project with flying colors.”
In Ylivieska, the earthworks will be completed on schedule by the end of the year. The entire business center is scheduled for completion at the end of 2026.