Establishment

On 27 December 1960, the former road construction districts were renamed road construction administrations as of 1 January 1961 with Directive no. 663 of the Minister of Road Transport and Highways of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. In the Tallinn district, the respective institution was renamed Road Construction Administration no. 2 (TEV-2). On the basis of the same directive, TEV-2 was no longer subordinate to the Tallinn Road Administration and commenced its activities as an independent road construction company that was directly subordinate to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Pursuant to the articles of association, the tasks of the new institution were performing road construction, major repairs and reconstruction work in Tallinn and its vicinity. The first registered office of TEV-2 was Tulika 9, Tallinn.

The most important sites and facilities

1961 – Valingu overpass

1959-1962 – the formation on the Pärnu highway 53.2-57.9 km section was extended to 12 metres. The highway – 7.2 metres in width – was immaculate and conformed to modern requirements, considering the context of the period in which it was constructed.

1960-1962 – construction work on the Liiva-Saku-Kanama-Keila highway on a section with a length of 8.2 km. On this section, the most labour-intensive object was constructing the 86.7-metre long Valingu overpass.

1961-1972 – extensive construction work on the Tallinn-Pärnu highway 12.4-64 km section, i.e. up to Märjamaa.

1961-1969 – extensive construction work of Tallinn-Tartu highway within the entire former Harju Region (4-50.9 km section).

1961-1965 – major repairs on the Tallinn-Viljandi highway 10-70.3 km section.

1963-1966 – construction of Akadeemia tee, Vilde tee and Ehitajate tee in Mustamäe by way of procurement and reconstruction of Pirita tee and Pärnamäe tee.

1964-1967 – work on the Tallinn-Narva highway 4.9-12.2 km section. The work resulted in a highway section with a length of 7.1 kilometres that was the first in Estonia to feature dual carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions.

Technological development

tehnoloogiline-areng

The new road construction company belonged to the third group of establishments. At that time, this division meant modest payroll opportunities and smaller investments.

In its first years of operation, the main focus of the young company was introducing a new asphalt concrete technology. Following the launch of the Lagedi asphalt concrete plant in 1961, much consideration was paid in the middle of the decade to the usage of surface-active additives that helped improve the adhesion of road cover and the levels at which the mixture could be processed. The Lagedi industrial base was the first in Estonia to implement the technology elaborated by Johannes Hint, which was further developed in the Moscow Research Institute. This technology allowed producing water-repellent fillers.

Vladimir Allikas, the manager of the company at the time, deserves praise for utilising crushed granite from Karelia. In fact, in the first years of operation of the Lagedi asphalt concrete plant, the company was only able to use crushed limestone for producing the mixture. Thanks to the personal contacts and acquaintances of Mr Allikas, the company was henceforth able to receive high-quality crushed granite from Karelia.

People

Gunnar Laev 1981
Gunnar Laev
Acting Manager, 1961
silhouette male
Vladimir Allikas
Manager, 1961-1966

Creation of the industrial base

In relation to the new development strategy approved by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1956 that established the focus of modernising the local road network within ten years, the Tallinn Road Administration had to urgently find a site for the industrial base required in order to implement the strategy. The first item on the agenda was constructing an asphalt concrete plant.

In the Soviet era, the operation of a construction organisation without the company's own thoroughly developed industrial base was inconceivable. Gunnar Laev, Chief Engineer, was therefore tasked with urgently finding a site that would be suitable for producing asphalt concrete.

As one of the essential prerequisites for establishing the industrial base was the proximity of the railway, two options were on the table: Lagedi and Riisipere. The final decision was made in favour of Lagedi. Planning and designing the industrial base began in 1959. The first batch of production was received from the Lagedi asphalt concrete plant in 1961 and it was used for the Tallinn-Tartu highway. Lagedi asphalt concrete plant was the third such plant launched in Estonia in addition to Pahnimäe and Toila.