1/2011

The Ammann Group Magazine

CANADA: BIG CHALLENGES

Climate tests compaction machines

THUMBS UP FOR NEW SOFTWARE MODULE Simple, cost-effective and safe production

PASSIONATE MICHEL FOUVY

Swiss producer of both asphalt and wine

GROWTH MARKET TURKEY Roads and schools are the key to success 04/2011

2 Contents

Title image A well-developed road network provides the basis for Turkey's dynamic development.

BIG CHALLENGES AWAIT IN CANADA

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AMMANN TAKES A BOLD STEP IN TURKEY ON SITE: The success story of asphalt mixing plants continues in the land of Atatürk.

ON SITE: Ammann gains a foothold in the land of contrasts with its compaction machines.

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AMMANN ITALY STRENGTHENS THE GLOBAL MARKET PRESENCE

A PLEASURE with a twist

FOCUS: Ammann Italy has grown from the cradle of road building to world leader for asphalt mixing plants.

Worldwide: San Francisco has a lot to offer, including the world’s windiest street.

Focus 20 ASPHALT PAVERS: Strong market launch EXPERT 22 WEIGHING AND LOADING SYSTEM: Simple and safe 26 LOW-TEMPERATURE ASPHALT: The way ahead PEOPLE 30 MICHEL FOUVY: Swiss producer of both asphalt and wine WORLDWIDE 33 PHOTO ARCHIVE: Practising for the Gotthard 36 CHINA: Ecological offensive 37 SWEDEN: Subsidiary established 38 SERBIA: Ambitious road building projects 39 IMPRESSIONS FROM THE AMMANN WORLD 39 TRADE SHOW PREVIEW: Dates for 2011

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

Editorial

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Hans-Christian Schneider, Board of Directors Ammann Group.

Dear Customers, Ammann is under new leadership. On 22 September 2010 my father, Johann Niklaus Schneider-Ammann, was elected a member of the Federal Council, Switzerland's supreme governmental office. His election went hand in hand with the transfer of all entrepreneurial obligations. So it also marked the end of my father's 29-year period of service for the Ammann family business. During his time as managing director and CEO, and also chairman and delegate of the board of directors, he successfully extended the operations of our 142 year old company from Switzerland onto the world's markets. On behalf of the extended Ammann family I would like to express my gratitude for his outstanding, perspicacious and prudent work. Prof. Dr Roman Boutellier, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Ulrich Meyer, CEO, took over the reins of our Ammann group of companies on 1 November 2010. They will continue to lead the group in the interests of the owners. I expect to take over management responsibility as a representative of the 6th generation in 2012. The transfer of responsibility has no affect on the existing company strategy: credibility, autonomy and independency will remain Ammann's central values. "Productivity Partnership for a Lifetime" is a motto set in stone. The shareholder structure will also remain unchanged. Our companies will remain

completely under the control of the SchneiderAmmann and Ammann families. Ammann is emerging from the global depression stronger than ever. We will utilise our worldwide Number One position and excellent reputation as a plant and machine manufacturer to further expand our market presence. You can find examples of this on the following pages. Furthermore, we will continue to expand our extensive product range. Our exceptionally customer-oriented service package makes Ammann a competitive provider of construction equipment for road building around the world. One such example is our efficient spare parts warehouse which we have redesigned from scratch. It will guarantee the availability of spare parts and services at short notice around the clock and around the world. This is a further step towards a future of customeroriented service and one which sustainably underscores Ammann's guiding principle: "Productivity Partnership for a Lifetime".

Hans-Christian Schneider Ammann Group Board of Directors

Canada: Country of contrasts –

the right challenge for Ammann

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Canada achieved independence from Great Britain on 1 July 1867 – it was a peaceful event, as is typical for the country. Ever since this day, which is celebrated each year as "Canada Day", Canada has been a place of refuge for families from around the world seeking new happiness. The country's vast surface area and varied topography are a continous source of challenges for road builders. Today, 20% of Canadians have neither of the two official languages of French or English as their mother tongue. More than 30 different languages are spoken among the 600+ self-governing First Nations tribes of Canada's native inhabitants alone. Every summer, towns and cities throughout the country celebrate festivals to commemorate the wave of immigrants arriving from Ireland at the beginning of the last century and the subsequent arrivals from Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ukraine. Furthermore, the most recent immigrants brought their traditions, gastronomic culture and art to Canada from Africa and the Caribbean as well as from Southern and Eastern Asia. Censuses carried out in recent years indicate that more than 50% of the population of Toronto and Vancouver – two of the country's largest cities – are descendents of so-called visible minorities.

A first-class structure: The Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan.

8,000 km on the Trans-Canada Highway To the front the rugged coastline of St. John's, Newfoundland, to the rear the Atlantic ocean: This is the scene at kilometre 0 of one of the longest roads in the world. It ends 8,000

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Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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kilometres to the west, on Vancouver Island high above the Pacific ocean. En route the road passes through mist-shrouded fishing harbours and never-ending cornfields, across two mountain ranges and a rough, glaciated landscape of lakes, through windswept prairies and forests of giant redwood trees. This is the Trans-Canada Highway: a winding asphalt strip that connects the 10,000,000 km2 of the world's second-largest country after Russia. A journey along the Trans-Canada Highway imparts an impression of the incredible variety of which Canada is so proud. The expanse of the arctic regions and islands high up in the north of Canada are not connected to the Trans-Canada Highway. These areas are often only accessible on so-called ice highways that have to be closed as soon as the tundra thaws in the summer.

the wonders of the Canadian wilderness less than an hour's drive away. Multi-culturalism is one of Canada's most important values. The reason lies in the contrasts between the three founding nations: France, England and the First Nations. Whether Mi'kmaq, Mohawk, Cree, Haida or Inuit: The ancient First Nations tribes alone represent a greater diversity of culture and tradition than is found in the majority of countries overseas. Canada's French heritage dating back to the 15th century is particularly tangible in the province of Québec. England became the strongest colonial power in the country in 1760. As a result, settlers arriving from Great Britain had a decisive influence on the character of Ontario, the coastal provinces of the east and the new western provinces.

Cultural melting pot Canadas three largest cities – Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver – are all epitomes of modern cosmopolitan life. Citizens can nonetheless leave city life behind them at any time to enjoy

Nearly half of Canadas 35,000,000 citizens live in the heavily urbanised area of the QuébecWindsor Corridor close to the border with the USA. The first settlers from Europe settled here on account of the fertile arable land,

Canada wins at the Ammann Dealer Meeting 2011

Wintery conditions on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park, Alberta.

Kim Wiles (left), Managing Director of "Construction Equipment Solutions", was presented with the certificate for "Best Market Share 2010 for Light Equipment" at the recent Ammann Dealer Meeting 2011 held in Interlaken, Switzerland. (Right: Thomas Lankenau, Area Sales Manager Ammann.)

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Ammann is growing and growing Ammann is the fastest-growing brand in Canada's compaction market. The management team led by Peter Price and Heinz Stanisz can look back on more than 50 years of experience in the field. In his function as Product Manager and Sales Trainer, Peter Price makes use of his comprehensive technical knowledge to help his Canadian customers select the right products for their projects. Heinz Stanisz, on the other hand, is the ideal contact partner for customers with questions relating to machine maintenance, service and operation thanks to his extensive practical experience. Ammann maintains a first-class, comprehensive network of selected dealers at more than 25 locations throughout Canada and is headquartered in Toronto, the country's largest city. Today, Ammann has the most comprehensive product range in the sector for walk-behind compactors as well as a large selection of rollers for soil and asphalt compaction – ideal for landscape architects, real estate maintenance, municipality administrations or construction companies specialising in infrastructure, highway construction or housing developments.

25 dealerships and 500,000 spare parts Canadian construction companies and dealers are able to procure spare parts and services from local sources. The storage facility in Edmonton, Alberta, holds more than 500,000 spare parts and employs a computerised inventory system to handle order processing and stock level management. Investments in the Canadian market will support the advancement of Canadian dealers and their customers in a contemporary and professional manner.

Bock Equipment Case Atlantic Construction Equipment Solutions CUBEX Ltd. Maritime Case McDowell Equipment Nova Scotia Case Parker Pacific Williamson Equipment Ltd. Provincial Capital National Capital

No more potholes – thanks to vibratory plates from Ammann

Increased productivity thanks to training

Extreme temperature fluctuations cause shifts in the asphalt on a daily basis. These movements result in potholes in the road that can damage the undercarriage, tyres and wheels of vehicles. Repairing these potholes is a huge challenge for Canada's municipalities. A growing number of construction companies in northern Ontario are relying on plates and rammers from Ammann. No matter how cold it is: The teams responsible for repairing potholes place their trust in the support provided by Construction Equipment Solutions, an Ammann dealership of some ten years in Ontario. "They trust in the quality and reliability of Ammann to ensure everything runs smoothly, both at work and on the roads", says supervisor Steve Walters of the Ontario Municipality and Roads Department.

Cubex Limited recently organised a number of training and servicing sessions in conjunction with an order for seven AV-95.2 tandem rollers. "We believe that our customers can best increase the productivity of their machines when they receive thorough, practical training prior to the delivery of the machines." According to Ken Wilson, this enables customers to gather sufficient experience and to start working efficiently with the machines from the very first day.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

favourable sea routes and a mild climate and subsequently initiated the country's economic development. The region's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, are directly connected via the multi-lane highway 401. Further to the west, in the province of Alberta, lies Edmonton, the site of one of the world's largest oil and gas centres. The Athabasca oil sands in the north count among the city's most significant natural resources: they represent what is probably the largest existing oilfield on our planet. Ammann has taken up the challenge Canada's diversity represents a significant challenge to road builders. The mining and timber industries in the resource-rich "Nickel Belt" area around Sudbury, Ontario, depend on long road sections to transport their goods to the markets in the south. Building new roads is no easy undertaking, as the road builders first need to break through the pre-Cambrian rock formations of the Canadian Shield before they

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People of different origins co-existing peacefully, including in Toronto: That is Canadian culture. can begin constructing the substructure on the rocky ground. Ammann has equipped its machines with more horsepower especially for customers in Alberta and British Columbia, who often work in the higher regions of the Rocky Mountains. The air up there is thin and the engines need more oxygen. Further north, towards the arctic tundra, roads are built on wooden piles. The piles are set deep in the permafrost – a substrate layer that remains permanently frozen. Their installation calls for extreme care and precision as the structures will lose stability if the underlying permafrost begins to thaw. The highways in these regions are often sprinkled with water during the cold season. This causes the gravel

to freeze, forming a more solid and permanent substructure. But no matter how adverse conditions may be and regardless of whether Atlantic, Pacific or arctic coast: Ammann employees and Ammann machines feel very much at home in Canada.

RESULTS ARE IN: AMMANN OUTPERFORMS THE COMPETITION

An ASC 200 single-drum roller on soft ground puts on a convincing compaction performance.

According to Paul Matera, Equipment Manager at M.A.P. Earthworks Ltd., located in Edmonton, Alberta, the company decided to test the compaction capability of the Ammann equipment they had heard so much about. They ran an ASC 200HTPD head-to-head against a CAT 815 compactor. "We hired an independent soil engineer to run the density tests to make sure we received sound, reliable information. After four runs with each of the units, the tests confirmed that the Ammann units could deliver the same results as the CAT and be extremely cost efficient in the process", said Paul. They were so impressed with the Ammann unit that they bought it. Additionally, he reported that the performance data tracked over a complete year proved that their maintenance and fuel costs had been significantly reduced. "Although the CAT unit travels faster", reported Matera, "we feel that the deep compaction penetration due to the vibratory compactive effort and the wider rolling width more than made up for the speed."

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Ammann takes a bold and successful step in Turkey The story of Ammann in Turkey begins with asphalt mixing plants. Turkey, which is itself a massive market with a huge sphere of influence extending far beyond the region, has been a focal point of Ammann's activities since the beginning of the 1990s. The success story of Ammann/SIM in Turkey is closely connected to the name of Saruhan Sarioglu and his friendly relationship with Ammann/SIM and Michele Turrini, Fabio Mammoli

and Antonio D’Amico. In 1991, the Società Italiana Macchine S.p.A. (SIM), as it was at the time, entered into a partnership agreement with Tekno Company and appointed it as SIM's representative in Turkey. Fully aware of his own considerable input and encouraged by the company's success, Saruhan Sarioglu decided in 1997 to launch his own company, Teknomak. SIM followed him and has never regretted this move, as is evidenced by the

The newly established subsidiary will strengthen the presence of Ammann and Saruhan Sarioglu (5. f.r.) with his Teknomak team in the Turkish market.

current impressive market share of close to 50%. Growth from within Ankara Teknomak established its headquarters in Ankara. A decision that has proven to be very prudent. Although Istanbul is much larger and the country's undisputed economic centre, the capital city of Ankara is where the action is when it comes to road building decisions. As in any other market, customer service and support is just as important for sustainable success as the plant technology itself. Teknomak has its own very experienced assembly and service crew and is also able to supply components such as bitumen tanks, filler silos and steel structures through its own production facility. These conditions make it possible to deliver not only to Turkey but also to countries such as Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and the Ukraine, where Turkish construction companies are also active. To date, Ammann/SIM have delivered in excess of 100 asphalt mixing plants to Turkey, with a further 11 orders already in the books for the current year. Ammann has also become a significant provider of compaction machines to the Turkish market thanks to its partnership with Çucurova Ziraat. This performance makes Taner Sönmezer's team one of the most successful dealerships for Ammann machinery in recent years. Foundation of a subsidiary The successful developments in Turkey so far have been founded on a personal relationship, mutual respect and trust. This year we will celebrate 20 years of friendship between Saruhan Sarioglu and Ammann. We take great pleasure in setting a seal on our friendship for the future by establishing a joint Ammann Teknomak subsidiary. By establishing its own Turkish subsidiary, Ammann is emphasising the significance of the Turkish market to Ammann and its desire to strengthen relations with its machine distribution partner Çucurova Ziraat.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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In-house steel construction at Ammann­Teknomak relies on experienced employees.

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Roads and schools are the keys to success "Wherever I went I was asked for two things: roads and schools." This quotation from the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), is cited on the website of Turkey's Directorate General for Highways. It is still true today that Turkey has a lot of catching up to do in both areas. Many of the traditions reflected in Turkish culture and cuisine and also in the works of Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel prize laureate for literature, stem from the Osmanian empire which gave birth to the Turkish Republic. Modernity came to Turkey in 1923, when Atatürk began to mould the country on the basis of European nations. Islam was abolished as the state religion in 1924 with the first constitution and, since then, all of the country's citizens have been equal before the law. The Swiss civil code was initially adopted in 1926 and was followed by Germany's commercial code and Italy's penal code. Turkey introduced women's suffrage in 1930 – before France, Italy, Greece and long before Switzerland did the same. Furthermore, Turkey is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations.

Global power in the construction sector In a list of the largest internationally operating construction companies published by the magazine "Engineering News Record" in 2010, 33 of a total of 225 companies were Turkish. When measured by the number of companies, the result put Turkey in second place after the People's Republic of China (54). Turkey's large construction companies can fall back on extensive international experience and are well-equipped with both personnel and technology.

Dynamic national economy The fact that tangible discrepancies exist between the written law and actual reality can be explained by the huge economic divide between the country's industrialised west and its modern industries and the agriculturally structured and less developed east. The greater Istanbul area, for instance, achieves 41% of the average income of the 15 old EU member states, whilst the east achieves only 7%. However, Turkey achieved a gross domestic product growth rate of 7% in 2010, making it one of the most dynamic economies in the world and one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD. The country's economic boom also means that investments in the construction of new highways, railways, ports, airports, pipelines and broadband cable networks can also increase. They are desperately needed, given that nearly 90% of all domestic products are transported by road. The proportion of passenger traffic lies at an even higher 95%. Turkey's roads have an overall length of 413,724 km.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

on site

View of Istanbul, the city on the Bosporus which lies in both Asia and Europe.

Mosques, both ornate and unadorned, shape the country's landscape, even though it has not been an Islamic state since the first constitution.

The country's eastern regions, such as here in Kurdistan, are virtually undeveloped and have road conditions to match.

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They make many infrastructure projects expensive and challenging: long bridges such as the one on Bolu mountain.

Anyone travelling into Asia across the two bridges over the Bosphorus will need to pay a toll, as do the motorists on the six highways. The toll charges depend on the distance covered in kilometres. Users of the "OGS" detection device or the "KGS" charge card (in the photo) receive a discount of 20%.

Ambitious highway projects Turkey's Ministry of Transport introduced plans in September 2009 according to which a total of twelve new highway sections will be constructed by the year 2023. The overall length of these highways will be 4,773 km. This will more than double the existing highway network. The 5.5 billion euro project between Istanbul and Izmir alone includes 377 km of highway,

44 km of arterial roads and a three kilometre long suspension bridge over the Gulf of Izmit. The highway will consist of many structural features due to prevailing geographic conditions: 30 viaducts, four tunnels with an overall length of 7.4 km and 209 bridges. A third bridge with a length of 1,275 metres will cross the Bosphorus near Istanbul and is part of another new route measuring 260 km. The overall cost of construction is estimated at 4.5 billion euro.

Did you know …? – A brief portrait of Turkey Turkey is a parliamentary democracy with a relatively powerful president and an indepedent judicial system. The capital city of Ankara, situated in central Anatolia, is also the seat of the government. It measures 815,000 km2 and is the 34th-largest country in the world. 97% of its surface area lies in Asia. The country's border measures just under 10,000 km, of which 7,200 km are coastline. Population 72.5 million people live in Turkey. One quarter of these are under 14 and only 6% are above the age of 65. Life expectancy is 66.6 years for men and 71.2 years for women. Facts of interest Turkey is one of the world's most active earthquake regions. It is the world's leading exporter of hazelnuts. Camels are mainly used for sporting events and are no longer bred as pack animals. Two of the seven antique wonders of the world lie in Anatolia: the Temple of Artemis (Artemision) in Ephesos and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Bodrum.

Further large-scale projects are intended to help improve developments in the east. Overcoming the divide between Turkey's western and eastern regions could also have consequences for the educational system. Only 93% of all school-age children actually go to school. A study commissioned by the World Bank shows that girls living in rural areas are particularly disadvantaged. Consequentially, 6% of men and 18% of women in Turkey are illiterate. Well-developed roads and well-equipped schools therefore remain tasks of major importance facing the country. A glance at events occurring at the end of 2010 indicate the speed of progress. For instance, the 80 km federal highway from Yenikent to Beypazari was completed in December. The motorway between Kemerhisar and Pozantı grew by a further section in November. Turkey's growing economic strength has put the country on the best route towards fulfilling the expectations placed by the population in the nation's founding father Atatürk.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Who could possibly resist: Baklava is one of Turkey's most famous sweet desserts.

Turkish carpets have a long tradition.

Ambitious highway projects Length (km) 1. Gebze (nr. Istanbul)–Izmir

  421

2. North Marmara Highway (Adapazari–Kinali)

  361

3. Tekirdag–Canakkale–Balikesir

  433

4. Aydin–Denizli–Antalya

  335

5. Ankara–Eskisehir–Izmir

  549

6. Sivrihisar–Bursa (connects 1 and 5)

  202

7. Ankara–Kirikkale–Delice

  120

8. Afyon–Burdur–Antalya

  345

9. Ankara–Pozanti

  287

everywhere throughout the

10. Sanliurfa–Habur (border with Iraq)

  360

land, as here in Izmir.

11. Gerede–Amasya–Erzincan–Erzurum–Agri–Gürbulak (border with Iran)

 1200

12. Sanliurfa–Diyarbakir

  160

TOTAL

4,773 km Source: Turkish Ministry of Transport

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey's founding father and first president, is revered

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Focus

On the road to success with Ammann Italy

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Italy, bella Italia, the land of dolce vita and the object of many a yearning. Depending on our inclinations and interests, we rhapsodise about Dante Alighieri and Benvenuto Cellini or Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. We all like to enjoy a stint of dolce far niente accompanied by Vivaldi’s music, pizza, olives, chianti or cappuccino.

It is not only the southern sun and tasty cuisine that make Italy so fascinating. It is also a question of style and a particular attitude towards life. The Mediterranean peninsula is characterised by a special kind of lightness that is quite tangible. This lightness is tradition; although inseparable from natural circumstances such as weather and climate, it has been cultivated over the centuries by thinkers, poets, master builders, artists and singers and today characterises a specific attitude towards life that stretches far beyond Italy’s borders. The Mediterranean temperament is just as responsible for these basic conditions as is the concept of combining necessity with pleasure and adding a pinch of sophistication to every aspect of life.

The cradle of road building The first paved roads were built by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Etruscans, Phoenicians and Greeks as early as 5000 B.C. However, the rules and regulations of modern road building that still apply to this day were founded by the Romans. They needed a road network that could be used regardless of the season to control and further expand their enormous empire. At the height of the empire the road network covered a length of more than 80,000 km. A gigantic feat when one considers that Germany’s road network today consists of 230,000 km. The most important Roman roads were used primarily for military and commerce, both of which were of enormous significance to the

Ammann Italy: Facts and Figures Today, Ammann Italy S.p.A. with its headquarters in Bussolengo near Verona is a limited company with a share capital of € 3.6 million and a turnover of more than €80 million, of which more than 85% is generated abroad. The turnover achieved by Ammann Italy represents a significant proportion of the overall sales of Ammann mixing plants. Ammann Italy employs a workforce of more than 160 at its plant in Bussolengo. Many more work at supplier companies that very often produce exclusively for Ammann Italy on the basis of its drawings and standards. In the course of its history, Ammann Italy has supplied well over 1,000 asphalt mixing plants to more than 40 countries. The service provided by the company and its partners ensures a high degree of plant availability and therefore a high degree of customer satisfaction, as it has done for the past 50 years. www.ammann-group.it

development and continuance of the Roman empire. They made it possible to reach even the most distant provinces of the empire with relative ease and within an expedient period of time. Orignally intended for military and political purposes, they quickly proved to be of benefit to trade and economic development. The Roman empire lasted for many centuries and blossomed in radiance and wealth in particular due to its road network. Rise and fall Roman roads had beds of up to one metre in thickness. The beds consisted of a number of layers. The substructure was formed from pressed clay. Next came the statumen, a solidi-

The standards for road construction were set by the Romans. Roads are still constructed layer by layer to this day.

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Michele Turrini and Fabio Mammoli are also the heads behind the new Ammann Italy.

The former management crew of SIM in 1994: (l. to r.) Alberto Anici (administration), Franco Bellotto (production), Michele Turrini (sales), Orazio Formaggio (purchasing), Giorgio Sartori (technology), Antonio D`Amico (export).

The CB with its E-Bit tanks is a big seller in Turkey.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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fication layer made of limestone and mortar. The next layer (ruderatio) consisted of fist-sized pebbles and was followed by a layer of nutsized pebbles (nucleus). A layer of cobblestones or smoothened stone slabs was added to the road beds of important highways, inclines and sections requiring special protection from the weather. Otherwise, the covering layer consisted of pressed or rollered rough gravel or sand. The road surface was cambered on each side to allow water to run swiftly into the gutters.

Many of the Roman’s construction methods fell into demise with the fall of the empire around 500 A.D., resulting in a more or less roadless period. The fact that things are much different today has a lot to do with Ammann…

SIM – Another chapter of Italian road building Brothers-in-law G.F. Turrini und M. Bondardo founded SIM, Società Italiana Macchine, between 1960 and 1961 in the northern Italian town of Verona. Road builder and businessman Turrini was of the opinion that asphalt production plant available on the market was not very good and, above all, was much too expensive. He found a suitable partner in his brother-in-law Bonardo, an astute businessman, and was able to focus on developing and manufacturing his own asphalt mixing plants. Together with just 15 employees they built their first small asphalt mixing plant for their own use. They did not have to wait long for success, and soon all of Italy knew that modern asphalt mixing plant technology was available to buy from SIM at reasonable prices.

Success factors include precision and high-quality standards.

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Growth beyond Italy’s borders SIM has been able to expand its product range over the years to meet increasing demand. It soon had a range of customer-oriented solutions for every purpose and performance category. This was also the foundation for expansion into foreign markets. SIM progressed to become an international brand and the trademark of clever technology made in Italy. Buoyed by their success, the founders decided to make further investments in their company and purchase an industrial plot of 40,000 m² in the nearby town of Bussolengo. This is where they built a new, modern factory. The new factory went into operation in 1980 and marked the beginning of a new chapter in the SIM success story. The export business expanded as customers from Scandinavia to the Middle East purchased plants made by SIM. SIM engineers played a leading role in developments such as recycling reclaimed asphalt and reducing airborne emissions. Transfer to the Ammann brand When SIM became a part of the Ammann Group in 1991 it marked a further milestone in the history of one of the leading manufacturers of asphalt mixing plants. From then on in, important developments were tackled in cooperation with Ammann; SIM meanwhile represents an ideal fusion of Swiss and Italian virtues. SIM and Ammann have decided to incorporate SIM in Ammann Italy and to operate under the Ammann brand name as they will then be better equipped to tackle the growing demands of advancing globalisation. This is not merely a simple change of name but rather the integration of SIM in the Ammann Group, where the products from Italy will play an even greater role in the future.

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Asphalt pavers: Successful launch on the British market Ammann Equipment Ltd is one of the leading subsidiaries of the Ammann Group. Robert Brown, managing diretor of Ammann Equipment Ltd, founded the British headquarters in Bearley, Stratford upon Avon, more than ten years ago. In keeping with the motto: "The day on which you stop moving forwards is the day you start moving backwards", Ammann Equipment Ltd has been able to record a consistent increase in its market share since the year 2000. The well-established Ammann brand extended its product range by adding the new asphalt paver models in 2010. These new additions soon achieved the anticipated response. Specialist Road Surfacing Ltd of Scunthorpe placed the first British order for an Ammann AFW 270 following a successful on-site presentation in January 2010. A second machine was sold in March and is now at work in the highlands

Customised pavers from Ammann at the exhibition in Hillhead.

of Scotland. A third machine was acquired by the company Tripod Crest of Northampton in the Midlands. Success continued with sales of various AFW 270 and AFW 350 models and an AFW 500 which was sold to TKP Surfacing Ltd of Newbury. Asphalt pavers from Ammann – a highlight at the exhibition in Hillhead Ammann Equipment Ltd was able to present the new product range to the British and Irish market at the Hillhead exhibition 2010. The presentation of the complete range with pavers and compaction machines combined with a selection of core components from the systems range was an impressive sight to behold. Ammann Equipment Ltd was very proud to hand over the first AFT 500 machine in England to Spadeoak Construction Ltd at the exhibition. David Dawe, director at Spadeoak: "The machine has proved to be a successful

supplement to our Duracourt department, where it will probably be used in conjunction with some of our prestigious assignments for the Olympic Games of 2012." Pavemac – outstanding paving power on the British market The management team at Pavemac has more than 60 years of experience in the road building industry and is well-acquainted with the British market. Being one of the leading providers in the industry made it the right partner for a cooperative initiative with Ammann. "Get it right first time!": This is Pavemac’s motto, and a market share of 12% in the construction industry proves the company is getting it right – first time, every time. The company’s employees are a further guarantor of success. Pavemac takes special care to employ only the best people; they are

Robert Brown (left, managing director of Ammann UK), Vitor Batalha and John Finn (right) at the 2011 convention of Ammann dealers in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Today, asphalt pavers from Ammann are at work on many building sites in Europe. Here an AFT 350 E in Switzerland.

then encouraged to provide management with feedback in the form of new ideas or alternative work processes. Pavemac’s most valuable capital is therefore its workforce. Its employees come from different backgrounds and offer a broad range of skills and interests. Together they make a formidable team. Outstanding service and a range of high-quality products are further ingredients of the recipe for success. Or, in the words of Pavemac’s managing director John Finn: "We all know how

important high-quality products are and we do everything in our power to offer our customers the very best that is available. We improve the original manufacturing standards wherever possible to bring them up to our level." Another successful year for asphalt pavers in Great Britain? 2011 has started equally as well: Orders have been placed for the AWF 350 as well as for the AFW 270 models. Robert Brown’s words are

indicative of his confident outlook for 2011: "I shall endeavour to build on the success of year one and work towards achieving greater market penetration and a higher market share."

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The mixing plant at the Waldeck GmbH & Co. KG asphalt plant is the first in Germany to be equipped with an automatic weighing and loading system.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Thumbs up for automatic ­ ­loading and weighing system The asphalt plant Asphaltwerke Waldeck GmbH & Co. KG recently commissioned their new asphalt mixing plant. An Ammann Universal 200 is now situated on the outskirts of the small German town of Bad Arolsen near Kassel. It is the first plant in Germany to be equipped with an automatic weighing and loading system. The entire plant can be managed by just one mixing engineer. "Incorrect loading – that is a thing of the past", says mixing engineer Christoph Schmidt, who can now concentrate wholeheartedly on mixing asphalt and also finds enough time to look after small customers.

This system is another Ammann module that is easy to integrate in the tried and tested as1 plant control system. It has one advantage above all others: relief for the engineer responsible for weighing and loading the trucks. After all, there are many sites where this additional task represents a further strain on the mixing engineer. An asphalt mixing plant is really only meant to do one thing: produce asphalt. Depending on the plant’s output capacity this can be several thousands of tonnes per day in the high season. However, a high output capacity is of no use at all if the quantities cannot be loaded onto the trucks in good time, especially for large-scale orders where the same truck drivers return again and collect the same quantity of the same asphalt mix. Constant repetition has always called for automation. And that is exactly what the new system offers. Ammann has integrated every process step, from order processing to asphalt mix production, from loading and weighing to invoicing in the standardised system platform as1.

Simply and safely managed So how does it work? The orders to be processed on a given day are simply entered into the system. The mixing engineer documents which customer will collect a specific quantity of a specific mix for a specific construction site. As soon as the collecting vehicles are known, their details such as registration number, net weight and vehicle type are entered into the system. Vehicle details are assigned to a small plastic card. The chip inside the card merely contains the dataset number. It is scanned by means of electromagnetic waves. So there is no need to insert the card into a slot – the whole process is known by the name of RFID. When a truck arrives at the mixing plant, the driver identifies himself at a terminal without leaving the truck by holding his card up to the screen or entering his PIN number. The order details are displayed on screen and acknowledged by the driver. He can state whether he wants to load the truck with a complete or a partial load. A message appears on the screen telling him under which silo he should position his truck. A large visual display unit in front of

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The driver can initiate the loading process independently after identifying himself again at the terminal on the storage silo.

The driver identifies himself at the first terminal and states …

… how much asphalt he wants to load.

How to save time and money The as1 truck weighing system processes orders, weighs deliveries and generates delivery notes. Delivery data is transmitted electronically via interface to the accounts department. Fast order entry and efficient truck processing times are distinguishing features of the as1 weighing system. Combining plant automation and weighing results in the following advantages: – Reduced risk of loading the wrong material – "Self-service" for scheduled orders – Fast service for unannounced customers – Increased loading capacity, especially in conjunction with parallel weighing on multiple weighbridges – Tare weight monitoring and overload protection – Hot-mix loading temperatures printed on delivery notes in accordance with EN-13108 – Paperless delivery note handling and fast account settling – Minimum administration

the mixing plant displays the vehicle’s registration number and the silo number to confirm the driver has driven to the right silo. Once the driver has positioned his truck, he then goes to another terminal located directly at the storage silo. He identifies himself again to start the loading process. The flaps do not open until the weighbridge located directly beneath the silo has detected the vehicle’s net weight. The actual quantity is monitored continuously by the control system. The loading process ends automatically once the target weight is reached. It is not possible to overload the vehicle. On conclusion of the loading process the system enters the weight details into the delivery note. The note is displayed on the screen and can be signed off electronically via the touch panel. The signed delivery note for the driver and for the construction site is then

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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The delivery note is signed electronically directly at the storage silo …

… and printed out for the driver and construction site.

printed out. The document is simultaneously saved in PDF format and stored in the archive. The delivery data is exported via a data interface and can be automatically imported into the mixing plant’s invoicing system. Concentrating on the essential Mixing engineer Christoph Schmidt of the asphalt mixing plant in Waldeck is delighted that he no longer needs to cope with a "paper mountain". "There isn’t always someone at the door. I can work in peace and quiet. And no one can load a vehicle incorrectly." The system avoids errors and is particularly time-saving. Time to concentrate on the essentials and also to make the best use of the mixing engineer operating the plant. The objective of the operator of the plant in Bad Arolsen, the companies Joh. Wachenfeld

GmbH & Co. KG and Mitteldeutsche HartsteinIndustrie GmbH Winterberg, was to operate the site and process large-scale orders with minimum personnel. "The system offers the only way of doing so. After all, it enables the plant to be operated by just one mixing engineer. We consider the system to be consistent and impressive", says Dirk Menninger, technical managing director of Asphaltwerke Waldeck GmbH & Co. KG. The mixing engineer in Bad Arolsen no longer needs to take care of weighing for large orders. Mixing 2,500 tonnes and more every day is more than enough challenge. He now has the opportunity to service small customers while also processing large orders. "They often got a raw deal when large orders needed processing", says Christoph Schmidt. "Now I have the time to look after them as well. I often take care of loading and weighing directly

from my control room. It is never a problem from a technical viewpoint and I have enough time as the rest more or less takes care of itself." And what do the truck drivers say? "They were sceptical at first. But I was able to help them as I can call up all the display details on my screen. I was able to tell the drivers what they have to do via the telephone installed on each silo. That was very helpful in the beginning." The drivers who managed it for the first time without any help proudly indicated their achievement to Christoph Schmidt: with a big thumbs up …

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"We are convinced that low-temperature surfaces will prove to be ground-breaking for the asphalt and road building industry."says Samuel Probst

The future lies in: Low-temperature asphalt! CO2 represents the largest proportion of man-made greenhouse gases. The asphalt industry can also make a contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions. One possibility is to offer high-quality asphalt that can be mixed and installed at lower temperatures. Lowering the temperature also achieves significant savings in fuel consumption, considering that around 50% of production energy is consumed by heating the asphalt. 1,500 tonnes of low-temperature asphalt with foamed bitumen have more than proved their worth on this busy road in Switzerland.

There are various available methods for producing low-temperature asphalt: they include the use of additives or special binding agents as well as using foamed bitumen and modified mixing cycles. It is also possible to combine these methods. It is usually possible to lower the asphalt temperature by at least 20 °C and sometimes by as much as 70 °C or more. Ammann offers solutions for all popular methods of temperature reduction. The use of foamed bitumen is a suitable meth-

od of reducing the temperature as it is easier to mix with hot aggregate. The basic principle behind the production of foamed bitumen is as simple as it is ingenious: cold water is injected into the flowing mass of 150 °C bitumen. The water is immediately heated above boiling point and evaporates in part. The result is a mix of steam, water and bitumen. This mix is injected into the asphalt mixer. The use of foamed bitumen allows the temperature of the aggregate – and therefore that of the

asphalt – to be reduced by approximately 60 °C with no loss of quality. Reduced emissions also on the construction site Low-temperature asphalt has a second advantage in addition to lower energy consumption: a huge reduction in the emissions produced at the asphalt mixing plant and on site as the asphalt can be installed at a mere 110 °C. A rule of thumb says that reducing the asphalt

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

The required 1,500 tonnes of asphalt were produced in this Universal NG.

Installation at 110 °C, compaction even at 80 °C In 2010, Hans Weibel AG laid 1,500 tonnes of low-temperature asphalt on the basis of the WAM Foam® process on the busy cantonal road near Koppigen in the Swiss region of Emmental. The ACT 22 N W-ecophalt® that was used was installed as a base and wearing course. The asphalt was produced 40 kilometres away in Oberwangen. The Universal NG 320 asphalt mixing plant with warm reclaimed asphalt feed has a dual-row mixing tower, a fourtonne Amix mixer and a foamed bitumen installation for the production of low-temperature asphalt. The advantages of using the new kind of asphalt became apparent as soon as installation started: It reached the construction site at a temperature of around 110 °C and was compacted using an AV 95-2 at temperatures below 80 °C. Working on the construction site was therefore comfortable despite high summer temperatures. Not only due to a lack of bitumen vapours but also thanks to a lot less heat radiating from the asphalt.

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Low-temperature asphalt with foamed bitumen can be installed at around 110 °C with no loss of quality.

Three important low-temperature technologies in comparison: Technology

Production temperature Savings

Principle

Necessary modifications to plants

Bitumen foam

115 °C –5 kg CO2/t –1.5 kg oil/t

Bitumen is foamed and can therefore cover the aggregate and be installed at lower temperatures

– Foam generator for bitumen and feed material – Control adjustments to the mixing cycle

Waxes

130 °C –3.5 kg CO2/t –1.0 kg oil/t

Addition of wax to the bitumen; the asphalt is easier to process at high temperatures

– Feed option for additives, e. g. in the bitumen tank or in the bitumen flow – Modified bitumen is available

Zeolites

140 °C –2.7 CO2/t –0.8 kg oil/t

Water bound in a special filler is released and makes the asphalt easier to process

– Feed option for special fillers (zeolite)

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

The asphalt surface demonstrated the required degree of compaction at every measured point despite the demanding logistical

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situation, as a drill core analysis revealed. Road marking work began shortly after the last pass of the roller to enable the release of

the road to traffic the next morning.

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Degree of compaction (%)

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98

The Ammann research team measures the tem-

Minimum requirement: 97 %

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perature on the construction site: The thermometer shows a mere 110 °C.

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Drill core 1

Drill core 2

Drill core 3

Drill core 4

Drill core 5

Drill core 6

Asphalt drill cores with foamed bitumen fulfil requirements to a high degree.

temperature by 10 °C cuts the emissions on the construction site by half. The asphalt can be installed using the normal machines. Foamed bitumen plant technology for reducing temperatures is now available and a growing number of roads are being constructed using the technology. Ammann has already equipped plants across Europe with foamed bitumen systems and continuously helps asphalt manufacturers and road builders to introduce the technology.

"Low-temperature surfaces are the way ahead!" "The use of foamed bitumen technology enables us to achieve energy savings of 1.5 kg of fuel oil per tonne of asphalt. We were able to save around 7.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions during the installation work at Koppingen and therefore make a contribution towards sustainable road constuction. There are no problems with the quality of the asphalt mix produced and it meets every requirement of the applicable standard both at the plant and after installation. The installation work at Koppigen was a positive and promising experience. We are convinced that low-temperature surfaces will prove to be ground-breaking for the asphalt and road building industry." Samuel Probst, manager at Belagswerke Hans Weibel AG, Oberwangen (Switzerland).

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I am en route to Lake Geneva. I am not too sure what to expect when I get there. I have a dozen questions to ask Michel Fouvy, the recently retired director of Famobit.

Michel Fouvy walks towards me as I arrive in Corseaux. His large house dating from the 15th century is situated directly on Lake Geneva. The view across the lake is breathtakingly beautiful. As we stand there the first cat, Kensa – the boss of the place – strolls around the corner. At the house, Michel Fouvy invites me to join him for coffee. We are sitting in his living room. There are photos of the grandchildren on the sideboard, and the play corner suggests many hours of fun are spent with the family. With 140 horsepower across Lake Geneva We start to chat and Michel Fouvy tells me about his early career: "After completing my studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, I travelled to Cape Town with my wife in 1972, where I worked as an engineer." He then spent a dozen years working for a company in Solothurn before

applying for a position at Famobit. Michel Fouvy whisks me away across Lake Geneva in his red, 140-horsepower boat. The house looks even more magnificent when viewed from this side. Back on land, we stroll around the grounds and talk about love. He met his wife at school. "Christiane and I were in the same class. In the summer I used to swim across to where she lived and we would go swimming together." They married when they were 23 and daughter Carole was born five years later. She was followed by Matthieu after a further two years. Switzerland at its most beautiful Time flies by, and we are soon driving towards Cully to eat. We take a little detour through the vineyards on the way. "We have celebrated many occasions here." I had already heard about that from my colleagues at work. Michael Fouvy was renowned for his parties.

At the little restaurant, Michel Fouvy seems almost to be part of the family. Following a warm welcome we ordered the dish of the day and, as is customary in west Switzerland, drank a glass of wine with our food. He himself cultivates Chasselat, a very fruity and aromatic white wine. Each year, Michel Fouvy produces around 1,000 bottles for friends, customers, colleagues, and himself. After enjoying the traditional cuisine, we continue on our journey to the centre of Cully village. Michel Fouvy shows me his house where he lived for many years. In every little street one feels just how much he is respected and appreciated. Not one car passes by without the window opening to exchange a couple of words. He was the village mayor here for a total of 13 years. Today, he is responsible for tourism in the region. He suggests trips, plots walking routes and writes wine guides. "By

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

on people site Focus expert people worldwide

Michel Fouvy successfully managed the fortunes of Famobit for 24 years. The 66-year-old father and grandfather is a passionate vintner close to Lake Geneva.

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Famobit was founded in 1958 and maintains

Michel Fouvy shows our correspondent Kathy

plants in Bussigny, Grandson and Villeneuve.

Richter his wine cellar situated directly beneath his asphalt mixing plant in Bussigny: each year he produces 1,000 bottles of his wine for friends, colleagues, business partners and customers.

the way, the best time for trips is from May to September; those who like to swim are better off in June and July, and the autumn is the best time for those who appreciate young wines", says Fouvy as we continue. Asphalt mixing plant as wine cellar and practice room. At the end of the day we drive to Bussigny, where there is an old Ammann Hotstock 240 plant. On our arrival, a very proud Michel Fouvy tells me: "Last year we produced 2,400 tonnes of asphalt, an outstanding performance!" The plant in Bussigny is, however, special for more than one reason. Beneath the plant is a small Famobit wine cellar. Right next door there is a practice room where the accountant and his band get together to play music. "The plant is starting to grow old", explains Michel Fouvy. "We are currently contemplating whether we should just replace a few elements such as the control room and bitumen tanks or opt for a completely new plant." All in all, Michel Fouvy spent 24 years working as director until his retirement in December 2010. He bought the last plant in 2004. It is situated in Villeneuve, which is also on Lake

Geneva. His answer to the question of what connects Famobit with Ammann is clear: "A sense of tradition." The retired director proceeds to explain: "We could, of course, acquire a plant from a competitor, but we value the service and customer care provided locally in the region. Ammann is on site within an hour or two to help with any problems that occur." That is why all three Famobit plants were supplied by Ammann. My day with Michel Fouvy is drawing to a close. It was exciting, immensely entertaining and interesting. I will definitely come back in the autumn, when the vine leaves glow full of colour in the evening sun, to taste the young wine amidst the vineyards and enjoy the magnificent view of Lake Geneva.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Switzerland

Practising for the Gotthard tunnel A rainy day in 1968: The setting is a levelled field in the then largely undeveloped industrial area of Langenthal. Ammann employees have erected semi-circular profiles using roof battens and planks – only metres away from the company's headquarters. An employee in a 621 reverse dumper truck from Caterpillar draws tight curves close to the fragile construction. The simplicity of the improvised installation is misleading. These trials relate to one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in

Switzerland: the Gotthard road tunnel. The planning process for what was at the time, at 16 kilometres, the longest road tunnel in the world took ten years following initial parliamentary moves in 1960. Tunneling began in 1970. Varius commercial products and proprietary machines were used to complete the historic break-through in the mountain: in addition to various types of pneumatic dumpers and loaders there were also forklift trucks for fastening the cover panels in the tunnel's arch, mini excavators and Ammann twin vibratory rollers for installing the road surface.

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Roads of the world: Part 2

Brief pleasure with a twist There are many winding roads all over the world. Especially in mountainous and coastal regions. The most winding of them all, however, the road with the most bends per metre, is located in a city. It is in San Francisco in the American state of California – famous around the world for the Golden Gate Bridge and its cable cars. The latter are what made it possible at the end of the 19th century to master the hills of the city; there are 43 of them all in all and some are very steep.

Lombard Street leads from the Golden Gate Bridge across the city to Telegraph Hill. It runs down Russian Hill through a very elegant neighbourhood at a gradient of 27%. Lombard Street was redesigned in 1923, when its gradient was reduced to a "mere" 21.3% to make it safer for traffic. Today, hardly any tourist can resist driving down the 145 metre stretch of red paved one-way street either at the wheel or in a taxi. Regardless of the fact that the speed limit is a

mere 8 km/h. The street winds down the hill in zigzags. There are eight hairpin bends to navigate. That number rises to ten if one includes the bends at the top and bottom. The attractive greenery along the stretch makes the experience all the more impressive. At weekends policemen regulate the heavy tourist traffic at the top and bottom of Lombard Street. By the way, the fire service is not permitted to drive on this particular street.

Vermont Street in the district of Potrero Hill has five bends over an 85 metre stretch and is actually even more tortuous. But it is not nearly so attractive. The prettiest photo view over San Francisco is definitely to be had from Lombard Street.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

A trip via multimedia The familiar video platforms of the internet offer a digital experience of what it is like to drive "downhill" and reveal that such a trip would not be possible in a stretch limousine. Pedestrians use the steps running adjacent to the zigzag road. They offer a good view not only of the windy road itself but also of the cityscape. Every now and then the stretch is closed to traffic for races on two or three wheels or for skateboarders and inline skaters. Helmets are obligatory due to the high speeds. The fantastic Volkswagen Beetle named "Herbie" of

the American comedy "The Love Bug" also navigated the hairpins at break-neck speed. Some video and computer games offer a safer way of driving down the road. They include "Midtown Madness 2", "The Fast and the Furious" and Tony Hawk’s "Skateboarding". In the game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" the road is appropriately named "Windy Windy Windy Windy Street".

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The temple district of Delphi in model form.

The Holy Road still leads past the ruins of the treasuries up to the temple itself.

The view at night makes it clear why Lombard Street is considered the windiest road in the world: only 145 m in length but eight hairpin bends.

At the centre of the world: The Holy Road of Delphi According to mythology, Zeus, the father of the gods, set an eagle loose at each end of the world. The two met at Delphi. Therefore, Delphi was considered by the ancients to be the centre of the world. The town became a cult site of the ancient world. At its centre stands a temple dedicated to the god Apollo. Only men were allowed to enter the temple. With the exception of one priestess. Pythia served Apollo as a medium. She made prophecies on his birthday. The oracle developed significant influence throughout Greece lasting 800 years and was consulted prior to any important undertaking such as going to war. Every city state of importance built a richly decorated treasury and filled it with many magnificent temple offerings to ensure the oracle's benevolence. All of these treasuries held statues or sculptures of the ancient gods. A long and steep zigzag road winds its way from the entrance to the temple district past the treasuries up to the temple. It is the Holy Road of Delphi. Around one million visitors walk along this road every year to see the ruins of the temple district.

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China

Ecological offensive at the Bauma Shanghai The fifth occasion of the Bauma China held last November exceeded all expectations. 1,858 exhibitors from 37 countries presented their wares in Shanghai to 150,000 visitors from 165 countries. Here, as in many other areas, the signs are pointing to growth. Ammann concentrated on the subject of ecology: A Uniglobe 320 with a parallel drum and the new foam generator were on display at the Ammann stand. The model of a mixing plant with a parallel drum for 100% reclaimed

asphalt aroused considerable interest. Ammann thereby reinforced its technological leadership in Asia in an impressive manner. The main event was once again the customer seminar that took place in Ammann's subsidiary's premises in Shanghai. 120 visitors attended the presentations given by internal and external experts on the subject of ecological road construction.

Ammann's ecological products put on an 33% more visitors came to Asia's largest exhibition for construction machinery compared with 2008. The construction boom has arrived in China.

impressive display at the Bauma Shanghai. The exhibition stand was dominated by a Uniglobe 320 with a parallel drum for reclaimed asphalt.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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This Uniglobe 240 in the Norwegian town of Olsvika – one of 150 Ammann asphalt mixing plants in Scandinavia – also benefits from the new service subsidiary in Malmö.

Sweden

Norway

Denmark

Finland

Iceland

Sweden

Ammann flies the flag: Representation established in Scandinavia Peter Uls and Erik Nielsen make up the new Ammann service team in the Swedish town of Malmö. The qualified service engineers for asphalt mixing plants are available for service visits, burner maintenance and repairs in Scandinavia and Iceland. Ammann is therefore able to respond to the needs and wants of customers in northern Europe not only in a

timely and competent fashion but also in the national language. This close proximity to customers and their production sites ensures fast response times and therefore maximum availability of their Ammann plants. The team is supported by and is in close contact with the sales and

service teams at the company's headquarters in Langenthal, Switzerland, and the production facility in Alfeld, Germany. The new support point Ammann Scandinavia (ASC) began operations at the end of last year.

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Serbia

Ambitious road building projects in the Balkans

The new JustBlack 200 owned by Valjevo produced its first batch of asphalt for the expanding road network in Serbia just a few months ago.

Ammann has installed eight new asphalt mixing plants in Serbia over recent years. The country at the heart of the Balkan mountains with its population of 7.5 million has become an important market for Ammann with very good, long-standing customer relationships. Serbia suffered severe economic damage due to the sanctions imposed by the UN. The infrastructure suffered collateral damage as a result of the Balkan war, especially in local areas. Serbia will need a few more decades to be on a par with the west. The intention is to connect the country to the

European road network from north to south and east to west. Various large-scale projects are planned. One example is "Corridor 11", the highway stretching from Montenegro's Adriatic port of Bar in the south via the capital Belgrade to the town of Timisoara in western Romania with an overall length of 450 km. The investment volume is no less than 2 billion euro. Preduzeće za puteve "Valjevo" PZP specialises in road construction, civil engineering and road maintenance. The company invests continuously in its infrastructure. The 50-year-

old PZP company recently took charge of its fourth Ammann mixing plant in the form of a JustBlack 200. Ammann received high praise from director general Jasmin Garibovic for its expert advice, exact compliance with deadlines and efficient assembly.

Magazine of the Ammann Group, April 2011

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Productivity Partnership for a Lifetime: Impressions from the world of Ammann

> Trade show appearance bC India, Mumbai: Rolf Jenny, Alexander Greschner and Narinder Singh with Indian customers.

> Unusual contract signing on Swiss flag: Christian Stryffeler, Bato Ochirov and Wolfram Söhnel (l. to r.) .

> Dealer meeting 2011 in Interlaken (Switzerland): Herminio Aires and Francisco Leite (Peixoto), Riccardo Gioia (MCI Lazio) and Delfino Laferla (MIRAV) (l. to r.).

> Alexander Reich with customers at the Bauma Shanghai.

> Photo contributions > AFW 150 asphalt paver on its first job in Saas Fee (Switzerland).

Legal notice > Published by: Ammann Group Eisenbahnstrasse 25 CH-4901 Langenthal Telephone +41 62 916 61 61 Fax +41 62 916 64 02 [email protected] > Editorial staff: Lukas Jenzer (editor), Kathrin Richter, Andreas Koller, Uwe Märtens, Alexander Greschner, Elmar Egli > Design/concept: Peter Gugger > Printed by: Merkur Druck AG, Langenthal; circulation: 15 700 copies Paper: chlorine-free, acidfree, FSC certified > Publication: 2 × a year in German, French, English and Russian > ISSN 1663-5507

> Premiere at the Samoter in Verona (Italy): the new BlackMove II. Nihat Ergün, Turkish Minister of Industry and Trade, at the Ammann stand.

Send your best Ammann photos with an appropriate caption to the following email address: [email protected]

Trade fair schedule

2011 5–9 April

Smopyc, Zaragoza, Spain, www.smopyc.es

12–16 April

Construction trade show in Brno, Czech Republic

27 April–1 May

TurkeyBuild Istanbul,Turkey, www.turkeybuildistanbul.com

2–5 May

Project Qatar 2011, Qatar, www.projectqatar.com

10–13 May

Autostrada Kielce, Poland, www.targikielce.pl

31 May–4 June

CTT Moscow, Moscow, Russia, www.ctt-moscow.com

7–9 June

IRE, Amsterdam, Holland, www.khl.com/events

19–22 September

Project Iraq, Erbil, Iraq, www.project-iraq.com

26 Sept.–1 October

ITF / Stroytech, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, www.fair.bg/en

New publications: > Download at: www.ammann-group.com/media

EcoMix – Die Kunst der Betonproduktion

Systems

Overview asphalt mixing plants Stationary, mobile and wheel-mounted mobile With capacity of 80 – 400 t/h

>A  sphalt mixing plants (70 pages, de/en/it)

Basis

Neuheiten 2011 Control and management systems Asphalt Mixing Plants

> as  1 control system (20 pages, de/fr/en/it)

Productivity Partnership for a Lifetime

> I NNOVATIONS (18 pages, insert, de/en/it/fr)

Ammann Group Eisenbahnstrasse 25, CH-4901 Langenthal Tel. +41 62 916 61 61, Fax +41 916 64 02 [email protected] www.ammann-group.com