New production line supplied by Avermann for manufacture of façade elements for the Danish company Contiga A/S

The Company Contiga A/S is one of the major manufacturers of precast elements in Scandinavia. The product range is comprehensive and is characterized by the manufacture of wall elements and hollowcore floors, and also by production of structural construction elements such as columns and beams. Due to the geographical proximity to Germany, the manufactured building elements are used in the most diverse projects both in Denmark and in Germany.

The company, wholly owned by HeidelbergCement Group since 2019, employs a workforce of some 450 and generates an annual turnover of well over 100 million Euros. At the Tinglev production plant, located approx. 25 km northwest of the German city of Flensburg, Contiga A/S currently has a production area of more than 35,000 m² at its disposal for producing the above-stated precast elements. In recent years, the company has made continuous new investments. First, owing to constantly changing demand for high-quality façade elements and, second, also with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions – and, in this way, towards improvement of sustainable building.

Production of high-quality façade elements on tilting tables

After the company Avermann has in recent years delivered a number of machines and equipment for Contiga, and since Contiga has been very satisfied with the deliveries, the German plant engineering firm was once again approached for new investments planned for 2021. At the end of last year, a suitable solution concept was worked out in collaboration with Avermann’s Scandinavian trade representative, the company CPT A/S (Concrete Plant Technology), and a suitable solution concept was offered.

Based on the existing space situation and the fact that sandwich elements with complex façade design are primarily planned to be manufactured, a production line comprised of four hydraulic tilting tables and one rotary portal trowel was the optimal solution. Although this type of trowel is mainly intended for housing construction, it is designed such that it is also suitable for producing large-sized solid and sandwich walls for industrial buildings. Accordingly, the measurements and the permissible loads were generously dimensioned. Each of the four tilting tables arranged in one line is 16 m long and 4 m wide, and is designed for a load of 7.5 kN/m².

On the traditionally rugged and torsionally rigid tilting tables from Avermann, precast elements in thicknesses of 150 to 550 mm can be manufactured. This is made possible by solid edge formwork (150 to 350 mm), adjustable in height on three sides in connection with attachments of 200 mm height – as well as by the Avermann vibrators installed below the tilting tables, driven by frequency converters. A portal-type wing float traverses on floor-mounted rails and serves for subsequent smoothing with a trowel and for time-delayed trowel polishing. At the customer’s request, the trowel was executed as a special construction so that it can be operated either floating for wide-surface elements or rigidly suspended for narrow concrete contours.

75th anniversary of the Avermann company

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Avermann company. The company, family-owned since its foundation in 1946, and now successfully led in the third generation, began as a simple metal workshop and evolved over the years into an international company with a workforce of now around 450.

In 2013, Dr. Maike Keller took over the company management from her father Kurt Avermann. What once began as a one-man operation in a garage is today a synonym for high-quality machines and special solutions on the market – whether in environmental engineering (the company’s second business division) or in the precast industry.

With foundation of subsidiaries – in Erfurt and Thörey in Germany and abroad in Poland, Hungary and the Netherlands – the company in the course of decades has succeeded in building up an internationally networked corporate group that further strengthens and expands its development as innovator and pioneer of high quality in its industrial sector.

The name Avermann, according to its statement, stands for quality, long service life and innovative solutions. Now as then, the company works especially closely with its customers and has established itself on the market as specialist for made-to-measure solutions. The combination of customer proximity, flexibility and innovative strength has led to many partnerships of long duration, for which the Avermann Group in the name of the owner family and the entire workforce would like to express its sincere thanks.

These partnerships at home and abroad have grown over the years and laid the foundation stone for success. The Avermann company is pleased to continue as reliable and competent partner, looks forward to a future full of innovation and says “Thank you.”

Conclusion and outlook

The need over the coming years for high-quality precast elements in a great variety of types is estimated to be very great. The company Contiga A/S rises to these current challenges. Future building will be increasingly characterized by changes in demand for high-quality precast elements and also by requirements with a view to reducing CO2 emission and to assuring sustainable building.

“The machinery and equipment from Avermann help to improve the quality of products and also to increase our efficiency. We are pleased to have Avermann as a reliable partner on our side,” says Karsten Rewitz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Contiga A/S.