K. Rudzki i S-ka
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Commemorative plaque at Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw, listing K. Rudzki i S-ka as the contractor
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| Fate | nationalised and dissolved after 1945 |
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| Successor | Fabryka Urządzeń Dźwigowych |
| Founded | Warsaw, Poland (1858) |
| Founder | Konstanty Rudzki |
| Defunct | 1948 |
| Headquarters | Warsaw and Mińsk Mazowiecki, Poland |
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Number of locations
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2 |
| Owner | Konstanty Rudzki |
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Number of employees
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100 in 1860 221 in 1879 over 1000 in 1914 |
K. Rudzki i S-ka ("Konstanty Rudzki & Co. Ltd.") was a Polish engineering and machinery company. Founded in Warsaw in 1858 as an iron foundry by a shipbuilding magnate Andrzej Artur Zamoyski and led by Konstanty Rudzki, it soon expanded into machinery, steel and engineering. By the end of the 19th century the company, with its seat in Warsaw and a large factory in Mińsk Mazowiecki, had become one of the largest and most experienced bridge construction contractors in Central and Eastern Europe, with roughly 20% of bridges constructed in the Russian Empire bearing the logo of K. Rudzki. After World War I the company declined and ceased its machinery production arm, but continued on as an engineering and construction business. It was nationalised and liquidated after World War II.
Throughout its existence the company was responsible for some of the most innovative bridge undertakings in the world, including the 1914 Poniatowski Bridge, the 1916 Khabarovsk Bridge (for decades the longest bridge in Eurasia at over 2,500 metres in length) and the 1927 Maurzyce Bridge, the first welded road bridge in the world.
The original foundry that formed the core of the future company was named simply "K. Rudzki i S-ka" - "K. Rudzki and Co." (S-ka being a contemporary abbreviation of the word "Spółka", meaning "Company"). When the firm expanded into engineering, machinery construction and other areas, its name was changed and until 1932 it was "Towarzystwo Akcyjne Fabryki Machin i Odlewów „K. Rudzki i Ska”", which could roughly be translated as "'K. Rudzki and Co.' Factory of Machinery and Casts, Joint-stock Association". The official name was then changed to "Towarzystwo Przemysłu Metalowego „K. Rudzki i Spółka” SA" - "Metal Industry Company 'K. Rudzki & Co. Ltd.'". Regardless of the official name of the company, the surname of its founder became almost synonymous with the company itself, especially once Konstanty Rudzki died in 1899, at the height of the company's expansion.
In 1858 Konstanty Rudzki, a Polish engineer with experience in Western European steel and mining industries was tasked by Count Andrzej Artur Zamoyski with creating a foundry in Warsaw. Zamoyski needed a specialised local firm to cooperate with his expanding shipbuilding business, so he financed the creation of the foundry, named simply the "K. Rudzki and Company". Initially the company was in fact a joint-venture of three parties. Count Andrzej Zamoyski was the financial backer of the enterprise and the principal client. The second party was a partnership of Jakub Baird and Samuel Hirsz Mühlrad, both managers of steel and iron mills in the Old-Polish Industrial Region. The third party was Konstanty Rudzki himself, who provided the necessary know-how and whose share was to be repaid with future profits of the new company as he brought no money into the company.
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