OUR HISTORY

Our history starts in the immediate post-war years. Master builder Bjarne Kynningsrud started the operation that was to develop over the years into today’s Kynningsrud.

Our history

The country needed a great deal of building after the war and, in addition to building operations, Bjarne Kynningsrud also established the machinery contracting business. His wife, Solveig, had an important role in the company in the fifties and sixties. In 1967, the first mobile crane was bought. However, Bjarne died suddenly in 1970 and his oldest son Harald took over the local company in Halden. He chose to focus on mobile cranes, the assembly of concrete sections, and piling/sheet piling. This meant expanding into a larger geographical area in eastern Norway. In 1977, Harald established Bj. Kynningsrud AS, which is now Kynningsrud AS.

The factory in Sweden starts up

Bj. Kynningsrud AS quickly grew through acquisitions and organic growth and its market area was expanded to cover Norway and Sweden. In 1997, Kynningsrud established its own factory for the production of concrete sections in Uddevalla, Sweden. Fredrikstad and Uddevalla became the starting points for great opportunities in a large market. This was the start of Kynningsrud Prefab, which is now a complete precast supplier to the Norwegian and Swedish markets. For some years now, Kynningsrud Prefab has been undergoing a strong investment phase, with production capacity increasing year by year.
Since April 1 2020, Kynningsrud Prefab is owned by Nordic Precast Group.

Growth in Foundations

In 1994, Kynningsrud purchased Norfund in Trondheim. This was an important strategic investment, increasing market share to approximately 35%. With bases in Fredrikstad and Trondheim, the whole of Norway was opened up as a market for Foundations. In 2000, Veidekke became the main shareholder in the foundations business, and owns firmer Kynningsrud Fundamentering, now Geo fundamentering og bergboring AS.

Property Development – a focus area

The Kynningsrud group has been involved in property since 1980, and since 2001 Property has been a specific focus area. The organisation is now established in Halden and Uddevalla. This division is actively involved in the development and leasing  of commercial premises and sites.

Building contractor

The ball rolls on, and Kynningsrud is constantly evolving. In 2018, the construction contracting business “Kynningsrud Bygg” was started in Sweden. Four years later, the company has about 30 co-workers, in four departments around Sweden. Kynningsrud Bygg is constructing buildings mainly for external partners, but also for internal development within the Kynningsrud concern.

Residential Development

2020, Kynningsrud started the new business “Residential Development”, focusing on creating homes and living areas in western Sweden.  Our goal as a housing developer is to develop society and help more people to realise a new home – always with the customer’s needs in focus.

The cranes become “Kynningsrud Green”

The crane division has been growing strongly since the 1970s, with the main focus directed at eastern Norway and also Sweden. The characteristic green colour appeared in 1998 and proved to be a great success in the market. Today, Nordic Crane is one of Scandianavias leading suppliers of heavy lifting and special transport services.

The green alternative

At Kynningsrud we want to be at the forefront when it comes to sustainability and the environment in the construction industry. We are well aware of the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. As an early step in this transition we have invested in the world’s first all-electric mobile crane, and we are implementing many other measures to reduce the environmental footprint of our machines and operations. We also realise the importance of the recycling of building materials in our aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Kynningsrud’s business areas:

• Nordic Crane
• Kynningsrud Property Development
• Kynningsrud Building
• Kynningsrud Residential Development

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