Author: Professor, Dr. Dietrich Stein - TrenchlessOnline

The Janssen family: Franz, Anja and Niklas.
to daughter Anja and son Niklas on
May 14, ending an era of almost 40
years of trenchless rehabilitation technology
leadership. Coincidentally, the
date also marks his 65th birthday.
In 1969, Franz Janssen, a mechanic
for agricultural machinery by education
and trade, founded his company
in Kalkar on the Lower Rhine.He started
his business in sewer cleaning and
rehabilitation with his first flushing
car. At a time when many sewers had
to be painstakingly cleaned with
Circle 10 on reader service card.
www.trenchlessonline.com
brushes, Franz Janssen was one of the
first to inspect sewers with modern
TV technology. In the early 1980s, the
entrepreneur turned to the issue of
how sewers could be rehabilitated
applying trenchless technologies, at
that time a pioneering idea.
For the next 20 years, his ideas were
put into action.Janssen developed and
patented novel processes and technologies
for renovating aging sewer
piping infrastructure.
Throughout Europe, the Janssen
Process became the standard for the
rehabilitation of cracks or complex
damages in sewer pipes. Franz’s
method for applying durable PU or
Silica resins from the inside to the outside
of pipe through cracks and openings
was a breakthrough technology
because his technologies offer agency
managers a permanent repair solution
while reducing the cost compared to
conventional dig and replace
approaches
His zeal for inventing and applying
new technologies to customer problems
fueled company growth.From the
single flushing truck back in 1969,
Janssen GmbH has outgrown two previous
company locations and now
counts more than 20 truck systems
operating in Germany and Europe.So it
comes as no surprise that the company
founded by Franz Janssen is seen to this
day as one of the technologically most
advanced and most economical service
companies for sewer cleaning and
rehabilitation.Even with the senior as a
pioneer of trenchless rehabilitation
going from board, the next generation
finds excellent circumstances to take
over and continue the family business.
With his company now firmly
entrenched as one of Europe’s leading
trenchless rehabilitation companies
and a modern, new facility in Goch,
Janssen leaves his legacy to Anja and
Niklas. “I’m proud of what they have
already accomplished,” said Janssen,
referring to his daughter and son,
“Their direction in expanding our
technology and methods to the United
States is working well,” he added.
In September 2006, Janssen GmbH
established a U.S. partner,The Janssen
September 2007 TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY 13