Nägele Bau GmbH

Moving precast into the fast lane

Photos (3): Robert Mehl, Aachen

The rotation-site of Nägele Bau. In the back visible the encasing and reinforcement-section, in front left the central storage and retrieval unit

Photos (3): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

The curing chamber‘s stainless steel cover will be opened by vertical lifting. The unit located at the very top then simply projects from the curing chamber block

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

The concrete is poured through a vectorial, swiveling casting unit, which is operated by a worker right next to it using a mobile control panel

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Enchasing of the precast elements for Brugg / Windisch

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

The tilt station enables to upright a load of 45 t to a degree of 80°

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Acid washing of the Brugg-Windisch element surfaces. After 15 min the precast units will be cleaned again

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

Daily Truck-loading of the precast concrete elements to transport them to the Swiss construction site

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

In rain the impreg-
nating-effect causes a roll-off the water from the elements

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

By a truck-mounted crane the facade-elements are placed at the construction site in Brugg / Windisch

Photos (2): Robert Mehl, Aachen

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

The corner posts must be assembled with a particularly high degree of precision, requiring tolerances of less than 1 mm

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

The southwestfacade of the new campus building of Brugg /Windisch University of Applied Science is finished

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

On left side the managing director of Nägele Bau GmbH Bmst. Ing. Martin Dobler. On the right side the manager of the precast concrete plant Dr.-Ing. Jose Colan-Subauste

Photo: Robert Mehl, Aachen

One of the largest carousel production lines for the manufacture of precast elements is operated in Röthis in the Austrian State of Vorarlberg. On this line, Nägele Bau produces an increasing share of precast elements conforming to architectural concrete specifications. The company is currently manufacturing the 2,500 pieces of the curtain facade for the new campus building of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Brugg / Windisch, Switzerland.

“In Germany the standard precast element market is dead,” says Martin Dobler, managing director of Nägele Bau, very emphatically. “Too many suppliers that all consider themselves capable of producing the same items to a similar quality standard are driving down prices dramatically! And we in Austria, which has become a high-salary country compared to Germany, just cannot keep up with that. We’ve decided to put a strong focus on quality, which is why we largely concentrate on the domestic and the neighboring Swiss market.”

For the last 18 months, Martin Dobler has been managing director of the...