Foundation stone laid at new paver plant

Vögele, part of the Wirtgen Group, has held a ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone for its new asphalt paver plant in Ludwigshafen-Rheingönheim, Germany.

The new 380000 m² site is four times the size of the present factory in Mannheim and will allow for increased production as well as the construction of a new training centre.

Currently about 3000 staff from Vögele's customers attend the training programmes every year. In the medium term, this number is expected to rise to an estimated 6000, the company said. It added in future the company will have three large halls available for machine and application technology training.

Four time capsules, containing a steel tablet showing the timeline of the company's history; a document with the official signatures witnessing the foundation stone ceremony; a paver model and the day's issues of "Rheinpfalz" and "Mannheimer Morgen" newspapers were placed into the foundation stone, during the event.

The mayor of Ludwigshafen, Dr Eva Lohse and Hendrik Hering, minister for Economic Affairs, Traffic and Agriculture of Rhineland-Palatinate, were invited to speak at the ceremony. Dr Christian Pawlik, member of the Vögele board of directors and Stefan Wirtgen, chairman of the supervisory board welcomed guests from the world of politics and the economy.

Prior to construction work starting at the new factory 4,5 km of drainage pipe is being laid and an access road leading to the plant is being built.

According to the company, the first part of the move will take place in the summer of 2010 and will be completed by the end of the year.