Strade & Autostrade editorial staff met with Stefano Lucchi, legal representative of Frantoio Fondovalle, for an interview.
Below is an excerpt from the January 2020 issue:
“THE TOP TOWER 3000 P STANDS OUT AMONG THIS FIRST-RATE EQUIPMENT: WHAT WERE THE DRIVING FACTORS BEHIND YOUR DECISION?”.
“SL”: “The Top Tower 3000 P was the natural choice since almost all the Company’s other plants have been supplied by Marini, who we consider to be a leader in their field, consistently meeting our needs and identifying the key solution to solve our problems. The relationship between Frantoio Fondovalle Srl and Marini is therefore one of collaboration and synergy, now consolidated over the years, and this new plant is no exception. ”
“It includes a large number of optionals given its location in an area of utmost strategic importance, having different needs with respect to plants located further away from the city centre. The distinguishing feature of this plant with respect to others we own, is its high finished product storage capacity: we have four silos, each 70 m3, split into two parts. We are therefore able to store a production of about 280 m3: 18-19 truckloads of material. Three of these silos are able to store the material at temperature for many hours, from 48 to 72: in other words, two or three days.
This is a crucial aspect requested by the Company in order to meet local market demands, because for urban maintenance works, without this type of plant, energy costs would be much higher due to the continuous starting and stopping, not to mention the amount of time wasted waiting for the material. Moreover, by running production the night before the planned works, we are able to best programme the tasks of the various teams, which are many and which operate using different types of materials - thus making it available at the construction site from the early hours of the morning - and at temperatures able to guarantee the quality of the final result. This means we can expect an immediate return on our investment.”
“S&A”: “HOW LONG HAS THE PLANT BEEN UP AND RUNNING?”.
“SL”: “We started the first production runs in July, and we’re currently testing the machine: we’re therefore in the start-up phase, but the plant is already operational and we’re using it for our construction sites in the metropolitan City of Bologna and road networks managed by Anas. These, together with the airport, the expressway and motorway constitute the main sectors toward which the Top Tower 3000 P is oriented, given it requires the production of large quantities and high quality materials.”
THE TOP TOWER 3000 P
