casagrande group

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T h e n e w s l e t t e r f o r c u s t o m e r s , a g e n t s , s t a f f a n d f r i e n d s A u g u s t 2 0 0 7

Bauma 2007 for the Casagrande groupCOMPANY’S NEWS

Within TEC there is extensiveknow how in foundation engi-neering which will be furtherenhanced within the Casagrandegroup sales network. With these new products we areable now to offer a comprehen-sive range of products whichhas no equals in our businessfield.It is our intention to further devel-op the technical knowledge ofour group and TEC is an initialstep towards this direction.

NEWS

TEC system is a French basedcompany which incorporates dif-ferent brands such as Domineand Bonne Esperance. They havebeen in the business of founda-tion equipment manufacturing for40 years and in the recent yearshas benefited from the know howand in depth knowledge of themajor foundation contractor inthe world. This has lead to devel-op highly sophisticated equip-ment such as the diaphragm wallgrab Baya and the CSM. Other

products are manufactured with-in TEC such as the compactFUTURO, injection-groutingequipment and special acces-sories.TEC and Casagrande have jointlydecided to cooperate havingfound that their respective syner-gies will give benefit to bothcompanies and the market. TECis representing Casagrande inFrance and Casagrande in turn isrepresenting TEC in the rest ofthe world.

TEC system

The last Bauma has been anevent beyond any foreseeableexpectation. Both in numbers andquality of visitors the exhibitionhas proven to be the best show inthe world.During the 7 days we had on ourstand an average of 300 visitors a

day with peaks up to 600 in onesingle day. More than 600 com-panies have visited us, providingthe interest and the attractionwhich we have generated in pastfew years.The equipment on display hasgenerated curiosity and contrac-

tors had a chance to see bythemselves the Casagrande pro-duction. The master piece wasthe C900NG together with theFD60, nevertheless the other rigslike the B135, B170, B180HD,C7NG, HBR605, HBR609 and theHBR205GT have attracted bothclients and curious competitors.The latter made positive com-ments about us stating that theequipment increased its qualityand finishing and howCasagrande all in all has grown.More contractors are talkingabout us positively and wheregreatly impressed by our teamwhich was on the stand. Ourunity and friendly environmenthas contributed definitely to anenthusiastic image of the Com-pany.Last but not least important wasthe fact of introducing TEC as

part of our family. The heavy dutyBaya grab and the small FUTUROon our stand showed the productoffering of the Casagrande group.On the TEC stand the B250together with the CSM (cuttersoil mix) generated an interest onthe high end of the market whichputs Casagrande amongst thetop players of the foundationequipment manufacturers.The message which we conveyedis of a growing company with lat-est state of the art technologyand well finished equipment hasbeen accomplished. We also wantto thank all the Casagrande andHütte sales people and theagents which have given theircontribution to make the Bauma2007 a successful event. We dolook forward to continue on thislevel of exhibit for the forthcom-ing shows.

The last Bauma has been an event beyond any foreseeable expectation. Both in numbers and quality of visitors the exhibition has proven to be the best show in the world.

www.casagrandegroup.com

Because the geological soil condi-tion, excavation in the very hard“Caliche” formation (up to 1.200kg/cm2) was performed only usingrotation drilling techniques. But withthe development of the Hydromill(reverse circulation) technology, theobstacle to excavate very hard soiland rock formations has been suc-cessfully overcome.The first tentative to propose the useof the technology failed a few yearsago, when the Venetian Hotel andCasino decided to enlarge theirfacilities in Las Vegas. At that time, acouple of contractors (includingBencor), unfortunately and unsuc-cessfully, proposed to use thediaphragm wall challenging the“supremacy use” of the secant piletechnologies. But for various cir-cumstances, at the end of the proj-ect, the old proverb prevailed: “He,who leaves the old familiar road fora new one, knows what may havebeen left behind, but does not know

what he will find ahead,”…….. andthe decision to use the well-knownsecant pile solution prevailed. Asexpected the installation of secantpile walls, designed to the extremeof the equipment capacities, result-ed in various construction, scheduleand quality control problems duringinstallation and the undergroundexcavation an exposure of the wall. Finally, in 2006, Bencor was able topropose with the TERRACON Con-sulting Engineers & Scientistsdesigner team to install approx.30.700 m2 wall at the Cosmopolitandevelopment. Thanks to the incredi-ble success in production, schedulereduction and quality obtained,when the second phase of theVenetian expansion was finalized,there was no question that thediaphragm wall was going to bechosen, also, at the Venetian Towerexpansion!The result was that, not only, thesecant pile perimeter walls were

substituted with a structuraldiaphragm wall, but also, the stan-dard caisson foundation piers weresubstituted with low bearing ele-ments (LBE or “barrettes”) installedwith the same diaphragm wallequipment.The result, a Casagrande FD60hydromill is now used to install thefoundation for the entire project.Bencor was able to manage theinstallation of approx. 11.150 m2

foundation system showing thecapacity to manage, coordinate and

Venetian, Las Vegas, with the Casagrande hydromill FD60.Diaphragm walls have been finally installed in Las Vegas (Nevada). For years, only minipiles, drill shafts,CFA (marginally) and secant pile walls have been used for foundation and temporary support of excavation.

JOB SITE

The incredible schedule advantageachieved during the installation ofthe first diaphragm wall in LasVegas at the Cosmopolitan wasclearly acknowledged. The benefitswere then confirmed when the wallwas exposed. No remedial workwas needed for leaking joints orimperfect wall construction (com-pared to standard secant pile con-struction) was reported due to theexcellent work performed by Ben-cor and the characteristics of theequipment chosen to form thepanels’ joints.When the Venetian finalized the

construction of the second phaseof their hotel and casino expansion,the diaphragm wall technology waschosen in alternative to the secantpile technology used in the previ-ous phase of the Hotel and Casinoexpansion. The decision was alsomade based on the requirement touse the Casagrande Hydromillexcavation system because of thepossibility to achieve better water-tight joints and insuring no delayduring production or during theexcavation. We are expecting tofind the same admirable resultsachieved at the Cosmopolitan

when the walls at the Venetianproject will be exposedThe use of secant piles walls is stilla very valid and reliable technology,however, in certain soil and watertable conditions, where deep exca-vations are needed or because theproject watertight joint require-ments, the diaphragm wall solutionshould be always considered as avery valuable solution.

install the diaphragm in a very limit-ed and restricted area in one of the busiest avenue in the world: theLas Vegas.Bencor was founded in 1984 spe-cializing in diaphragm wall installa-tion, first, and then in caisson,retaining wall and anchor technolo-gies. The first hydromill they pur-chased was a Casagrande K3Lhydromill in 1996 to be used at theTwin Buttes Dam Rehabilitation Pro-ject in San Antonio, Texas. Sincethen, Bencor has built a fleet ofmills, the majority of which (three)are Casagrande.At the Cosmopolitan site, rigs frommultiple manufacturers were used toinstall the diaphragm wall but onlythe Casagrande’s Hydromill was ableto form perfect panels in the veryhard “Caliche” formation and toexcavate the secondary panels form-ing concrete to concrete watertightjoints between panels. When thetime came to decide which equip-ment was going to be used at theVenetian, it was clear the best optionwas the use of the Casagrandehydromill FD60 because:• The possibility to better control

verticality and to create a special“key” between the panel joints.

• The possibility to record in realtime, while excavating the panels,not only the position of the millingtool on the “x” and “y” axis, butalso, the possible rotation (“z”).

• The extra production achieved inhard soil and rock formations dueto the “full face” cutting areaobtained only with the use of the“Casagrande patented chaintransmission system”.

• The reliability of the Casagrandehydromill equipment, the very lowconsumables and spare partreplacing cost.

• The minimization of break-downtime recorded in comparison toother systems.

T h e n e w s l e t t e r f o r c u s t o m e r s , a g e n t s , s t a f f a n d f r i e n d s

casagrande group

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The Area Manger for the MiddleEast, Mr. Andrea Babbo reportedthe following: “Casagrande last tar-get has been adding a permanentpresence in Saudi Arabia. We areproud to announce that Casagrandehas opened a representative officein Jeddah (a very important MiddleEast commercial centre). To insurefull time service to our local clientswe have in Jeddah a full time expe-rienced Service Manager and onesales director . He will be supportedby a specialized team of engineersand technicians which will be ableto answer quickly to our clients’enquires and the market require-ments”.Over 300 Casagrande’s rigs are cur-rently working in the Middle Eastonly. The majority were sold in thelast three years and the best sellingmodels are the B250, B180 HD and

B125. In the Kingdom of Saudi Ara-bia a total of 32 Casagrande rigshave been sold up to date.Casagrande has recently signedimportant sales contracts with mostof the local Saudi Contractors for 5units B180 HD units and 3 unitsB125. Our clients have identifiedthese models as the most suitablefor local soil conditions; moreoveralso the B250 has been recentlysold into the Kingdom, this model is“Demand for high rise building isincreasing every day” Mr. Babboreports “Casagrande will be able torespond with their B250 piling rig.We have sold over 60 units in UAEand the quality and performance ofthis model will satisfy the demandalso in Saudi. We are the first pilingrig supplier to open an office in theKingdom. Our goal is to becomethe major area supplier of piling rigs

in the next three years. We believethe market can only respond posi-tively to our investment and to theimproving quality of our services”.

We expect to announce additionalpositive news in relation toCasagrande Middle East presencein our next magazine edition.

Casagrande newly opened agency in Saudi Arabia’ Kingdom The Middle East has been a very important market for Casagrande. Our goal to build a strong presence in the area and in this respect, we have developed a very well planned organization based on close business relationship with all the local dealers and a yard/workshop in Dubai were one of the moreexperienced Casagrande technical manager has been relocated from Italy and where all spare partes areavailable for the region.

AGENCIES HIGHLIGHT

1. When your cooperation withCasagrande started?

“It’s almost 2 years I am now working asCasagrande Agent, originally throughAFI and now directly as the manager ofthe newly formed Casagrande agency.Before my newly appointment I wasworking in AFI as product specialist forfoundation division and I was the salesand customer relation advisor for foun-dation equipments manufactured byCasagrande, ICE, TAETS, IHC, and FUN-DEX for the counties Saudi, Bahrain,Kuwait and Qatar.

A brief interview with Mr. Sreedhara Narayanan,Casagrande Saudi Arabia Kingdom sale director

INTERVIEW

Here below the contact information’sfor our representative in Jeddah:

Casagrande Representative Office

Bldg: Gulf PlazaAl Madina Road; (next to the Arab National Bank) Jeddah. KSATel: 00966-02-2843993 Fax: 00966-02-2842388Email: saudi@casagrandegroup.com

Sales Director:

Mr. Sreedhara Narayanan Tel. 00966-55-2198681

Technical Department:

Mr. Hassan Bermawy: Tel. 00966-05-03726863

Mr. Essam Awad: Tel. 00966-05-08594588

2. How is the new Casagrandeoffice organized?

Our office is located in Jeddah, themajor commercial city of Saudi Arabia, itis our intent to be close to our cus-tomers in order to support after salesrequirements.We have two mechanical engineersemployed full time here. They both havebeen trained in Fontanafredda. Both ofthem are from Egypt. Their job is toreach customer whenever required inany part and city of the Kingdom.

3. How do you see the future of themarket in your area?

We envision incredible market opportu-nities for the next 5 coming years. How-ever it will be challenging to insure thatthe prospective clients clearly under-stand the capacity of Casagrande andthe commitment to the Kingdom mar-ket.Our piling and micro piling rigs areworking in some of the prestigious proj-ects / locations in Saudi and to namefew are:One C400 & one B180 HD in “GCCinterconnection project” with M/s. NCCOne B180 HD for piling jobs in projectfor “construction of Water tower for AlKhobar” with M/s. ICC

One B125 in Jubail for “Royal Commis-sion of Saudi Arabia” with M/s. RGMEOne B250 in Area Amir Majid, in Jeddahfor construction of secant wall for underpass projectFour C6, two working in Dammam forunder pass project of Al Darbas Co, onefor Anchroing jobs in Al Misfalah andone in area Hira- Jeddah, from companyM/s. SafcoTwo C6 in Holy city Mecca withM/s.Saudi Bin Laden,for Anchroing jobsTwo C6 in Holy city Mecca withM/s.Kaskttas for Anchroing & soil stabil-isation project KRC 2 for diaphragm wall project inAbha with M/s.Shibh Al JaziaraKRC 2 for diaphragm wall project inJeddah with M/s. Kaskttas.

4. Tell us something about yourbackground.

I love special design equipment, this isthe reason I am in this job.I have a diploma in Engineering and onein Management and a 9 years workingexperience in this with equipments fortunnelling, foundation, drilling and pilingtechnologiesI believe that mere survival is notenough in our business. I want to be inNo.1 in the job I am handling. Our goalis to make of Casagrande the No.1 sup-

plier to the Saudi market by next year, This will be achieved not just in havingthe more number of rigs sold in themarket, but especially in the support andback-up service to be provided from ourJeddah facilities. My experience as a project engineerhelps me to understand the soil infor-mation provided by our clients and helpme in suggesting our clients the moresuitable equipments for their projects.

T h e n e w s l e t t e r f o r c u s t o m e r s , a g e n t s , s t a f f a n d f r i e n d s

casagrande group

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