Today, Wirtgen America, Inc., Nashville, is the North American arm of the Wirtgen Group, the single-source marketer of the world's most technologically advanced lines of asphalt reclaiming and recycling equipment from Wirtgen, asphalt and soil compactors from Hamm Compaction Division, and U.S.-sourced asphalt pavers from Vögele America Inc.
But the Wirtgen Group in North America and around the world is the legacy of Wirtgen Group's founder, Reinhard Wirtgen (1941-1997).
In late 2004 Mr. Wirtgen was honored as one of the "Top 100 Private Sector Transportation Design & Construction Professionals of the 20th Century" by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). He was honored for his landmark accomplishments in developing specialized equipment for the reclamation of road building materials.
It’s easy to see why. Wirtgen America offers a full line of asphalt and concrete milling machines/profilers, hot and cold recyclers, and mixers for the pavement recycling and reconstruction industries. Wirtgen America sells to both contractors and government road agencies. These products and others are available through a network of representatives and dealers throughout North America.
Wirtgen has the widest milling machine product line in the world, and manufactures more pavement milling machines than anyone else. Its technically superior machine designs have made Wirtgen the world leader in milling machine sales for years.
Wirtgen America also markets a wide range of cost-efficient and versatile surface miners for the mining industry.
While Wirtgen Group -- based in the town of Windhagen in the Federal Republic of Germany -- markets other road building and construction equipment internationally, in North America its Wirtgen product line is composed of milling equipment, hot and cold reclaimers, recyclers and soil stabilizers, and Rhino-brand parts and cutters.
Wirtgen Group is Postwar Success Story
At the age of only 18 years, Mr. Wirtgen entered the German construction industry as a dump truck driver, hauling construction materials used in post-war civil engineering projects.
In 1965, Mr. Wirtgen and his associates built a concrete "guillotine"-style breaking machine, a cost-effective alternative to conventional "headache" balls. This first machine was made of used parts cobbled together, and was used by the Wirtgen company -- acting as subcontractor -- for concrete breaking jobs throughout Germany, and later, other European countries.
By the end of the decade, Mr. Wirtgen had noted a profound need for quick, cost-effective repair of deteriorated asphalt pavements. So in 1971 his firm developed its first hot milling machine for removing these aged pavements. Within a few years, Wirtgen's fleet of milling machines grew to over 100 and were used throughout the Continent.
In its ultimate application, hot milling evolved to heating, softening and removal of the top layer of bituminous pavement. Further development led to the "remixing" of the material with virgin materials, and placement of the "remixed" material, all in one pass and one machine. Hot milling machines were also developed for repair of small areas of pavement.
By 1975, this milling technology had been established by Wirtgen internationally, and the subcontractor began founding offices throughout Europe, in Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, and on the United States' Eastern Seaboard.
This hot milling technology was further developed by Wirtgen by 1976, permitting 100 percent recycling of road material in situ. The technology was improved in subsequent years to become the "Remix" process which now is famous -- and often imitated -- throughout the world.
The technological leap from hot milling to cold milling was made in 1978.
The first of these machines were sold to contractors in the late 70s. In keeping with this demand, Wirtgen sold off its service activities in 1981 and reorganized the company as a manufacturer of machines. In the following years, production capacity was expanded at Wirtgen’s headquarters in Windhagen, accompanied by the establishment of a worldwide network of dealers and company-owned branches.
Wirtgen’s technological spectrum was diversified in the early 80s with the development of surface miners for mining mineral deposits.
Expanding Enterprise Meets Industry Needs
In 1989, Wirtgen acquired the Belgian manufacturer of slipform pavers for concrete construction SGME and integrated the latter’s engineering, production and sales activities into Wirtgen GmbH.
At the end of the 80s, Wirtgen began to develop an innovative process known as cold recycling of reclaimed road materials, in which foamed asphalt technology plays a large role, abetted by other stabilization technologies utilizing cement, lime or asphalt emulsions.
During the 1990s, Wirtgen bolstered its product line with technological refinements and design enhancements. Electronic controls and operator stations were improved, as well as mechanical systems, drives, bits and cutter drums.
In March 2000, Wirtgen GmbH further developed its base in the road maintenance industry by acquiring the maker of world's most advanced asphalt and soil compactors, Hamm AG of Tirschenreuth, Germany, which does business in North America as Hamm Compaction Division in Nashville.
The next year, in June 2001, Wirtgen rounded out its line by acquiring the world's oldest and most respected manufacturer of asphalt pavers, Joseph Vögele AG of Mannheim. A North American subsidiary -- Vögele America Inc. -- was established in Chambersburg, Pa. to build asphalt pavers for the North American market which incorporate certain technologies developed by Joseph Vögele AG.
Earlier that year, in February, Wirtgen America’s new Nashville headquarters was dedicated. The $4 million, 74,000 square foot structure consolidated the North American operations of the Wirtgen Group.
The $25 million expansion and modernization of Hamm Compaction Division’s world headquarters plant in Germany in 2002 provided increased capacity, faster order fulfillment, and improved product quality as it was expanded from 570,000 square feet to approximately 1.7 million square feet. And in 2006, work was concluding on a $60 million expansion project of Wirtgen's Windhagen manufacturing plant, the largest single investment in the company's history.
Recycling Boon to Developing Countries
Now, in developing countries, asphalt recycling technologies developed under Mr. Wirtgen's authority help road agencies make scarce road funds go farther, enabling interior development, facilitating economic growth and helping assure a brighter future for citizens.
In developed countries, asphalt recycling technologies improve the environment, conserve resources, enhance local economies, leverage roadbuilding funds, and provide better service to motorists and residents.
"Our aim is to fully understand our customers' requirements with all their national peculiarities, so we can offer solutions suitable for the future," Mr. Wirtgen said in 1997. "This close cooperation is pursued on a global scale and has acquired a dynamism of its own through further development of construction processes."
And in creating this legacy, Mr. Wirtgen built an international company whose components have become an important part of the local communities in which they operate, and an integral part of the German manufacturing economy. |
