#8 • HALF A CENTURY AT SCAFFOLDINGS
many coal-fired power plants were modernised to be
more environmentally friendly using scaffolding built by
Telinekataja.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Baltic Countries
and Russia became even more interesting market areas.
The company’s first foreign subsidiary, AS Telinek, was
established in Estonia in 1993 followed by OOO Nevarend
in Russia in 2005. Additionally, a subsidiary specialising in
event structures, Kataja Event Oy, was established in 2001.
As one important milestone, the first weather protection
system in Finland, consisting of Layher aluminium trusses and
PVC-tarpaulins, was constructed by the company at the site
of the German School of Helsinki in 1999.
The largest undertakings in the 2000s included building
projects, such as Neste Oil’s new oil production line in
Porvoo, the third nuclear power plant in Eurajoki, and the
new power plant located in Narva, Estonia. Safe working
conditions were also required for projects at the biopower
plant in Pori and Keljonlahti power plant in Jyväskylä, and in
connection with the construction of Kamppi Shopping Centre
and the Helsinki Music Centre. The company’s logistics centre
located in Nurmijärvi was completed in 2011, and significant
scaffolding and protective system investments were made
over the past few years. This also facilitated the growth of
infrastructure projects, such as the shoring structures needed
for the construction of Toivakka Bridge, Tikkalansaari’s
motorway bridges and the new Pasila Bridge.
A half century since the company was founded,
Telinekataja is Finland’s leading supplier of scaffolding
and weather protection systems. The company’s success
is founded on its personnel of 260 professionals and on
a strong partner network, managed by the new
CEO
JUHA
HÖYHTYÄ
. Markku O. Kataja still serves actively as the
Chairman of the Board of Directors and is one of the owners
of the company. The company is already employing the third
generation of the family, and many members of the Kataja
family have worked for the company in different capacities
over the past decades.
Otaniemen vesitorni 1975.
The Otaniemi water tower, 1975.
Markku O. Kataja
ja Peter Prax
Layherilta Nurmijärven
logistiikkakeskuksen
avajaisissa vuonna 2011.
Markku O. Kataja
and Peter Prax from
Layher in the opening
of the logistics centre
located in Nurmijärvi
in the year 2011.
Julkisivutelineet
Helsingin
Sörnäisissä
80-luvulla.
Facade
scaffoldings
in Helsinki’s
Sörnäinen district
in the eighties.
Kauko O. Kataja 1970-luvulla.
Kauko O. Kataja in the 1970s.
In the 1950s, Building Engineer
KAUKO O. KATAJA
, the
founder of Telinekataja, worked with German scaffolding
experts to build the temporary stands for spectators of
the Helsinki Olympic Games. In the mid-50s, he decided
to increase his scaffolding know-how and headed to West
Germany and to the Netherlands to study the field in more
detail. Kauko O. Kataja served many years as the CEO of the
equipment rental company, Rakentajain Konevuokraamo. In
July 1965, Kauko founded his own company specialising in
scaffolding solutions. Among the larger projects in those
early years were the Mallasjuoma brewery in Lahti and the
Puolivälinkangas water tower in Oulu. Scaffolding expertise
was also needed on numerous bridge construction sites.
These demanding projects quickly gained the company
a reputation as a specialised expert in scaffolding. At that
time, the company was already building scaffolding systems
that no one had ever done before in Finland. The demand
increased both in industry and in construction. The history of
co-operation with the scaffolding manufacturer Layher began
in 1978, with the purchase of Layher’s aluminium rolling
scaffoldings. In the 1970s, the company was heavily involved
in building safe working conditions for Finnish industry
through many projects such as nuclear power plants and pulp
and paper mills. The company increasingly used the modern
Layher Allround scaffolding systems.
After Kauko’s death, the responsibility for the company
transferred from father to son, and at the end of December
1987, at the age of 30,
MARKKU O. KATAJA
took over as the
company’s new CEO.
Growth and internationalisation
The 1990s was a decade of growth and internationalisation
for the company. The company gained a number of significant
projects, among them the Mäntyluoto Shipyard in Pori.
Scaffolding was also needed for the cruise ships and LNG
carriers being built at the Turku Shipyard. Furthermore,
THE 50-YEAR HISTORY OF A SCAFFOLDING PIONEER
Mäntsälänsalmen silta 1968.
The Mäntsälänsalmi bridge, 1968.
