In 1976, two experienced geotechnical engineers partnered together to form Jeffery and Katauskas Pty Ltd, specialising in geotechnical engineering consultancy services across the greater Sydney area.
Our History
Founding partners Don Katauskas and Rod Jeffery had known each other during their prior employment. After graduating from Sydney University, Don worked in Canada, where he also completed a Masters Degree in Geotechnical Engineering. On return to Sydney, Don was the Resident Engineer for construction of the Grahamstown Reservoir slurry trench wall; the deepest in the world at that time. Rod graduated from New South Wales University and initially worked for the NSW Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission. His involvement in embankment dams ignited his interest in Geotechnical Engineering. He went on to obtain a MSc and DIC in Soil Mechanics from Imperial College in London. On his return to Sydney, he worked for a geotechnical consultancy with site commissions including the Tom Price – Paraburdoo railway construction and a tailings dams raising on the west coast of Tasmania.
Don Katauskas (left) and Rod Jeffery (right), founded Jeffery and Katauskas Pty Ltd in 1976
Jeffery and Katauskas initially worked from their homes with a simple soil laboratory set up in Rod’s garage. They soon established an office and laboratory in West Lindfield and started employing technicians and engineers as their work load expanded. After purchase of their first drilling rig in 1981, the office moved to Lord Street, Roseville; the staff numbers and capability continued to expand. Other partners joined the company; David Treweek, the Laboratory Manager, in 1982; Paul Stubbs in 1985, and Bruce Walker in 1986.
The company continued to expand in the years following, relocating to Buffalo Road, Gladesville in 1988 to cater for increased capacity. The drilling operation was separated to a form a separate drilling company (now JK Drilling). Similarly, the soil and rock testing laboratory became Soil Testing Services (STS) in 1995. Around that time, JK Geotechnics, being the main consulting part of the business expanded further with the creation of Environmental Investigation Services (EIS), now JK Environments, to provide specialist environmental and contamination related consultancy services. The business moved to Wicks Road in Macquarie Park in 2006, which is its current Sydney base. In 2012 Jeffery and Katauskas Pty Ltd rebranded to JK Geotechnics Pty Ltd, which together with the other three companies (JK Environments, JK Drilling and Soil Test Services) comprise the JK Group.
The group is now one of the leading specialised geotechnical and environmental engineering consultancy businesses in NSW, with over 70 technical staff based in Sydney alone. JK provides a fully integrated geotechnical and environmental consultancy including in-house drilling and testing, engineering testing of soils and rocks, and earthworks inspection and compaction control testing. It has carried out over 38,000 site investigations across NSW and beyond and has contributed to some of NSW’s iconic projects, such as the Star Casino in Pyrmont, the New Sydney Showground at Homebush, the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the Northwest Rail Link, and the new Western Sydney International Airport.
J&K at Sydney Olympic Park, including the new Sydney Showground (1997-1998)
Rock pedestal for Camden Cottage (Heritage-listed) at Milson’s Point (1986)
J&K drilling and inspections at Star Casino site to assess foundation bearing capacities (1995)
In 2019 the group opened a new office on the Sunshine Coast and a main South-East Queensland office in Brisbane in 2024. The Brisbane office includes a drilling rig capability to service a growing client base throughout Queensland and northern NSW. Our Queensland based team has been providing expert geotechnical and environmental inputs to a variety of projects across the region.
As at 2026, the company Directors include Peter Wright, Linton Speechley, Andrew Jackaman and Brendan Page, who joined the group in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 2006, respectively.
As we look to further expanding our business, we will continue to uphold our long tradition of delivering quality geotechnical and environmental services to our many clients across the various sectors we operate in.
Contact us today to see how we can help you.
