Kniele mixing technology for Profilbeton – the curbstone specialist from the German federal state of Hesse

Mobility is a basic human need. Improvement of the mobility of everyone in the public space, including mobility-impaired persons, is a significant and acknowledged socio-political goal. On a federal level, for example, the German Federal Transport Act (PBefG Section 3, 3), in its amendment of January 2013, demands full implementation of barrier-free local public transport by the year 2022.

The requirements and needs of traffic participants in the public space are many and varied. It is not only disabled people, but also those whose mobility is impaired, who benefit from barrier-free bus and train stops and barrier-free crossings of roads to sidewalks and bicycle lanes. These include senior citizens, parents with baby carriages and strollers and small children, tourists with suitcases as well as persons who carry heavy shopping bags.

Profilbeton, the concrete products manufacturer from Hesse, has for many years focused its work on such topics (see e.g. BFT 05/2013). The informative orientation aids and guidance systems from Profilbeton have by now become a guarantee for safe participation in public transport areas for all persons, including those far beyond the borders of Europe. The clearly understood and recognizable elements oriented to the respective needs of transport users are already successfully used in South Africa and New Zealand. More than two million of the exceptional Buskapsteine Kasseler Sonderbord and Kasseler Sonderbord plus bus curbstones have been installed on train and bus stops worldwide. In the two above-named countries, collaboration of many years has been maintained with Cape Concrete (Cape Town, South Africa: see also BFT 05/2018) and the company Busck (Whangarei, New Zealand). The barrier-free system Kasseler Querungsbord and the patented bike-pedestrian separation curb Kasseler  Rad-Gehweg-Trennstein are indispensable elements of the barrier-free mobility chain throughout Europe. The brands Busbord and Kassel Kerb have for this reason become established terms for many years in the Wikipedia encyclopedia.

Decisive: FT Technical Forum for Mixing Technology

Carsten Hasch, CEO at Profilbeton, during the interview on location at the Forum in Borken-Grossenglis couldn’t suppress a smile: “My visit to your Technical Forum for Mixing Technology at the Borussia Park in Mönchengladbach a few years ago was finally the decisive factor for our decision to decide on a new mixing plant from the company Kniele. The presentation by Harald and Felix Kniele in the stadium of my favorite sport club was highly professional. The cone mixer convinced us for all our requirements, and to this day we have never regretted this decision.”

Felix Kniele, from the management at the mixer manufacturer confirmed, likewise with a little smile: “Actually,the BFT team would deserve to earn the sales commission because, if it hadn’t been for the well-attended Technical Forum, we would perhaps have never come into contact with the company Profilbeton. In retrospect we can say that collaboration with Kniele as well as with all other parties, during the entire project phase, including final acceptance, was outstanding.”

For Profilbeton it had been important to order the complete package from the one-stop supplier Kniele, which included the control system by Bikotronic, an admixture batcher from Würschum, the feeder from Afinitas and the concrete skip conveyor from WMW.

New mixer plant in operation

The delivery scope of Kniele GmbH comprised the following components:

Material feed hopper (custom-built) – in the existing concrete building

Feeder elevator with fall protection (second rope)

Mobile material batcher

In-line silo, with 4 chambers totaling approx. 160 m³ (incl. heating)

4 batching valves and 4 batching channels

Mobile aggregate batcher with PU cladding

Skip hoist to the mixer with fall protection

Steel construction mixer platform incl. enclosure

Cement batcher with calibration device

Water batcher

Retrofittable color batcher

Liquid color batcher

Kniele cone mixer KKM 1500/2250 (incl. automatic high-pressure cleaning and mixer camera)

Forced dust extraction

Mixer discharge in truck mixer or in skip conveyor

2 cement silos with support scaffolding and complete silo equipment (can be optionally supplemented by a standby silo for future extensions)

Cement screw feeders to cement batcher.

In this connection it should be mentioned here that Profilbeton is allowed to use the concrete laboratory of Dyckerhoff and that the drying process takes place in the chambers without the curing plant.

Carsten Hasch continues: “The 25th company anniversary last year was a fitting occasion for setting the next milestone. For two years now, we have been a purely family-run company. The executive crew consists of my father, my sister and I, supported by the authorized company officer Holger Stracke, holder of a special power of attorney. Together with our staff of around 40, we launched the Profilbeton 2.0 phase. After working for many years with truck mixers we are – thanks to the new mixer plant – at long last able to produce the concrete for our curbstones at the site.” In the near future we will manufacture curbstones with white cement and powdered limestone.

In matters of sustainability, Profilbeton is at the forefront: our electrical power, for example, has been fed in completely by an in-house solar system for many years.”

Profilbeton very socially engaged

Last but not least, the company in Hesse is intensively engaged in social projects: e.g., by sponsoring the German Championships of the Blind in Marburg and by organizing the Profilbeton Cup in Goalball. Benefitted groups also include the nonprofit associations German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, the action group German Goalball Promoters e.V. (aktivGOAL) and IRIS e.V. and the Institute for Rehabilitation and Integration of the Visually Impaired. Profilbeton also supports the General German Cycling Club (Federal Association), the Kassel Association for Children Suffering from Cancer, the Borken Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Borken Rallye and Auto Club (RAC).