The Kynningsrud Group first saw the light of day in Halden as long ago as 1946. Bjarne Kynningsrud started as a master builder and established himself as one of the first machine contractors in Østfold.
The company grew during the 1950s and Bjarne’s wife Solveig became a vital source of support. When Bjarne died in 1970, his oldest son Harald was only 21, but he took over the company, at first with his mother Solveig.
Turning to Sweden
At that time, the company consisted of two mobile cranes, a mechanical digger and a total of nine employees. During the 1970s, Kynningsrud refined its activities into mobile cranes, the assembly of concrete sections and piling/sheet piling – the pillars of today’s Kynningsrud. The Swedish operation was established in the mid-1980s. With Halden near the Swedish border as the starting point, the focus was on assembling concrete elements and mobile crane hire.
The contact with Sweden was also valuable in the Norwegian piling market, since Kynningsrud started importing concrete piles in Norway from Sweden. This was to proven to be a wise choice for the future.
Positive development in eastern Norway
Harald’s brother Ivar joined the company in 1981 and soon took over the helm of the piling and sheet piling division. The division enjoyed positive development in eastern Norway up until 1990. Then the financial crisis hit the country. In order to drive the biggest projects through without making major investments, a working partnership was therefore established with Norfund of Trondheim on a project-by project basis. This valuable partnership eventually resulted in a successfully and strategically important acquisition. Norfund was taken over in 1994 and the whole of Norway became our market. Market share increased to 35%.
Further growth in Foundations
In recent years, Kynningsrud Foundations has also become a shareholder in the companies FoBe Pålar of Sweden, Hallingdal Bergboring, Båsum Boring og Båsum Boring Trøndelag. These have proved to be important investments in addition to ensuring good delivery, quality and drilling capacity in a market in constant change.
In 2000, Veidekke became the major shareholder in the foundations division and the company Kynningsrud Fundamentering AS was established. Today, Veidekke owns Kynningsrud Fundamentering 100%, but the company is run in the same way as before and uses the same logotype. Market share has been maintained and the collaboration with the Kynningsrud group is on a sound foundation. This has proved to be a recipe for success and the company has continued its year-on-year growth until the present day. Kynningsrud Fundamentering has been a market leader in Norway for many years.
