Production of individually milled monolithic concrete ...

CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2010 www.cpi-worldwide.com114

CONCRETE PIPES AND MANHOLES

Mark Küppers, CPI worldwide, Germany

The history of Hans Rinninger u. Sohn GmbHu. Co. KG began when Johann Rinningerfounded a construction business and build -ing material retail company in 1909 in Kiss -legg in the Allgaeu. Large, complex buildingswere already being planned and built atthis time. In addition, Johann Rinningermanufactured the first concrete products inthe form of Terazzo sink units and small-sizecement pipes.

In the second generation, Franz Rinningerbegan in 1946 with the industrial productionof hollow blocks and further concretegoods. The company expanded from yearto year – the range was continuously sup-plemented by new products. Large-sizepipes, manholes and ceiling elements aswell as simple precast parts supplementedthe product range.

In 1969 a new precast plant was built forthe production of structural precast parts,

such as walls, stairs and balcony slabs.Hans Rinninger joined the company as the3rd generation and dedicated himself con-sistently to this area. Production of concretepaving stones and further products for gar-den and landscape construction beganshortly afterwards. In the years that follow -ed, the company continued to develop;new production plants were put into opera-tion and innovative products were success-fully introduced into the market, such as the‘Grano Nostalit’ paving system, whichbegan a triumphant advance in 30 coun-tries and on all continents. Reinforced con-crete slot channels were manufactured forthe first time in 1988 using a new productionprocess. The high quality of the productsconvinced customers and planners, so thatRIKI slot channels were soon being used inimportant road projects and at nearly allEuropean airports.

Jörg Rinninger joined the company in 2005as the 4th generation. In the same year theunderground construction division was sup-plemented by a modern plant for the manu-facture of large pipes in diameters up to2.50 m. 2007 saw the market introductionof the Topliner system, a manhole systemwith integrated seal and integrated loadtransfer. This system succeeded in savingtime and personnel in the assembly of man-hole systems. With the aid of seals integratedin the manhole system and built-in loadtransfer, the assembly time can be shortenedsignificantly and the number of fitters redu-

Production of individually milled monolithic concretemanhole bases successfully started at the Rinningercompany

Prinzing GmbH Anlagentechnik und Formenbau, 89143 Blaubeuren, Germany

The name Rinninger has stood for quality and reliability for more than 100 years. The company, which is based in Kisslegg in the Germanregion of the Allgaeu and is now in the 4th generation of family ownership, supplies its customers with various concrete products. HansRinninger u. Sohn GmbH u. Co. KG specialises in underground construction, building construction, garden and landscape construction andprefabricated elements for the most diverse applications. The Rinninger company offers many different solutions which are used, for example,in houses from the cellar to the roof, in road construction, in sewer construction and in many other areas of application. What began in 1909with a construction business and a building material retail store has developed over the years into a medium-size enterprise with 180employees. Not only has the size of the workforce increased, of course; the process of growth has always been accompanied by moderni-sation measures. Hence, Rinninger has always had modern production plants at its disposal in order to be able to offer its customers thedesired products in high quality. The trend of the past years from the classic to the monolithic concrete manhole base has been precisely pursued at the Rinninger company.The market wanted monolithic manhole bases, hence the company wanted to offer them, too. Following the company’s own initial attemptsto develop an economical solution, it was then decided to invest in a new production line for these products. After inspecting various reference plants, the decision was ultimately taken in favour of the Primuss method by Prinzing GmbH of Blaubeuren, in which the channelsand connections are milled in pre-produced concrete manhole blanks using modern robot technology.

View of the production site of Hans Rinninger u. Sohn GmbH u. Co. KG in Kisslegg duringthe celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the company

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ced in comparison with conventional man-hole systems. Thanks to this innovation,errors during the installation on the buildingsite are virtually impossible.

The family-owned company celebrated its100th anniversary in September 2009.

Full-range supplier with system expertiseThe Rinninger company has set itself thegoal of being a full-range supplier with sys -tem expertise in all of its product divisions.The fair and constructive partnership withcustomers, suppliers and cooperating com-panies is thereby an important principle ofthe company’s dealings. The Rinningercompany orientates itself to the needs ofcustomers and business partners with theobjective of strengthening its own importanceon the market still further.

Where research and development is con-cerned, the company concentrates on inno-vative products and procedures for attractive,modern and economical concrete solutions.The employees are accorded a high de -gree of appreciation. For the Rinninger com-

pany they are an essential factor in the com-pany’s success. Therefore the commitmentof the employees and their qualificationsare continually fostered further.

Short in-plant communication routes andflat hierarchies ensure short response timesin the case of orders. With 25 vehicles of itsown, Rinninger is able to accommodatespecial customer requests at very short notice.Special transport vehicles are also availa-ble for extra-large precast parts.

Continuous quality monitoring The Rinninger company has established aquality assurance system that helps to per-manently maintain the high quality stan-dards. The monitoring of the recipes andthe aggregates for the concrete products iscarried out in the in-house research labora-tory by two concrete technologists. Thequality of the products is continuously moni-tored by these experienced employeesduring the production process. The resultsare concrete products with a maximum offunctional reliability and an appealinglook. Quality expertise is ensured by long-standing memberships in the Concrete andPrecast Quality Auditing Associations andthe Concrete and Steel Reinforced Con cretePipe Association (FBS) in Germany as wellas several certifications in Switzerland andin Austria.

Extensive range of products and domesticand foreign marketsOn average Rinninger processes over1,000 tonnes of sand or gravel and up to250 tonnes of cement per day, which,mixed in a total of five mixing machines, areprocessed to make various concrete pro-ducts, e.g. steel reinforced concrete pipes,manhole systems, stairs, balconies, slotchannels, precast slabs with in-situ topping,

walls, the widest variety of concrete pavingstones or special concrete parts. The com-pany’s main markets are in South Germanyand the neighbouring countries Austria andSwitzerland. However, Rinninger also findsnumerous customers for its precast concreteelements in Italy and France. Furthermore,the company also produces ready-mix con-crete, which is sold within a radius of about30 km.

Such product variety necessitates a largenumber of production plants. HenceRinninger has amassed an impressivemachine pool over the years. Apart fromcare and maintenance, the plants are rene-wed or equipment parts from a productionline are replaced or added if necessary.Hence, a circulation plant from Sommer forthe production of double walls and precastslabs with in-situ topping was put into oper -ation some time ago and the existing largepipe production line has been equippedthis year with a reinforcement weldingmachine from the MBK company, which islikewise based in Kisslegg.

A long-standing partnership with PrinzingGmbH precedes the investment in the newPrimuss production system. Besides the newplant, Rinninger operates two other produc-tion machines from Prinzing. The plants con-cerned are for the production of manholerings. One of the plants was installed in1982 and has thus been producing man-hole rings in Kisslegg for almost 30 years.

Prinzing machine for manhole ring production, manufactured in 1982

New reinforcement welding machine fromMBK

With 25 vehicles of its own, Rinninger is able to accommodate special customer requests atvery short notice


Primuss production process for arbitrarychannel types as well as the associatedinlets and outlets

The program-controlled manufacture ofarbitrary channel types and the associatedinlets and outlets for any desired pipe con-nection is fully automatic with the Primussproduction method. Mould expenditure isminimised as a result of early demouldingand short throughput times. Just four mouldsare in use at Rinninger for the monolith pro-duction.

No mould parts and models are requiredfor the channels and connections at all, justa milling robot with the appropriate software.The method is suitable for manholes in nomi-nal widths 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 mm Themanhole bottoms are made monolithicallyfrom highly-compacted fine-grained concre-te. Dimensionally exact manhole bottomsare created due to the partial hardening inthe formworks. The channels are designedfor optimum flow. Primuss manhole basesare made from concrete with high strength

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The concrete manhole monoliths are produced by the proven Atlasmachine

Support core and sleeve magazine

The Primuss milling station has two floor-level machining stations The pit under the machining stations serves as the movement areafor the milling robot

The tool magazine: in the centre is the side milling cutter used for milling the side connections




(C 60/75) and a low water cement ratio or from high performanceconcrete. Thanks to the high degree of automation of the plant, onlyone employee is required to monitor the production process.

Materials management system for entering the manhole parametersThe manhole bases manufactured using the Primuss method consistonly of concrete and all common types of pipe can be connected.When a manhole base is ordered, the order is entered into a mate-rials management system together with all manhole data, includingthe intended connections.

The concrete manhole base thus created on the computer can besent to the customer for checking if necessary. On the basis of theorder data and delivery times, the element is included in productionplanning and is manufactured at the given time. The computer

system of the Primuss production system was linked with the Gesysorder administration program, which ensures transparent productionat Rinninger.

Manufacture of the manhole base blanks using the flexible Atlasproduction systemIn the next step of the Primuss production method, concrete blanksare manufactured on the Atlas plant. The Atlas is a modular systemmade by Prinzing that has proven itself on the market. The plant ischaracterised by high flexibility and can be used for the productionof different products such as drains, rectangular elements, pipes upto 3,000 mm as well as manhole rings, cones and bottoms. As acomponent of the Primuss production process, the Atlas is primarilyintended for the production of concrete manhole bases at Rinninger. The manhole bases, which are still without channels, can be producedin various diameters, wall thicknesses and heights. The concrete ele-ments are produced on a base ring pallet fitted with a support cap.The earth-moist concrete is compacted by frequency and amplitudecontrolled vibrations.

Only the mould jacket needs to be changed in the Atlas in order tochange the diameter and wall thickness. The mould jacket table ishydraulically clamped in the machine to allow quick changing.Basic cores, mounting cores and manhole linings are not required.The production process is thus made very simple for the machineoperator.

The monoliths are taken out of the Atlas via the base ring pallet andare set down again in the curing area. At this point the monoliths areresting upside down on the support caps and base ring pallets andremain there for a while until they have reached the requisite initialstrength.

Milling of the channels and connections with the robotOnce the concrete manhole base blanks have reached the requisitepartial hardness, they are taken by fork lift truck to the milling station.The milling station has two floor-level machining stations, enablingthe milling robots to work continuously even during the exchange ofthe monoliths. The robot equipment was installed in a pit in order toenable the machining stations to be arranged at floor level.

In the first step the robot mills the channels out of the monolith frombelow. A spherical milling head is used here. Once the channel iscompleted, the robot drives to the miller magazine and changes the

Milling the channels from below

Milling the side connections


tool fully automatically. The connections arethen milled from the outside using the sidemilling cutter which is now fitted. Once aconnection is completed, the machining sta-tion rotates the monolith by the appropriateangle so that the next connection can bemilled directly.

The feeding speed is regulated automatic -ally by the robot during milling and adaptedto the respective hardness of the concrete.This enables the maximum preservation ofthe material of the milling heads, which areequipped with PKD cutting plates.

The concrete removed during the millingprocedure falls down freely and is removedfully automatically from the plant. For thispurpose, steeply aligned skid plates weremounted under the machining station, viawhich the material slides onto a perma-nently running conveyor belt. The conveyorbelt takes the material to a second conveyorbelt, which conveys the removed materialdirectly out of the building. The concreteresidues are subsequently recycled andreturned to the production cycle. Constantcleaning of the milling station is thereforeunnecessary. The robot cleans itself virtuallyautomatically due to its fast movements andno deposits accumulate on it during a day’sproduction.

Once the milling procedure is complete, themonolith is removed from the machining sta-tion again by the fork lift truck, any remain -ing milling debris is swept out of the con-nections and the element is placed in thewarehouse area for final hardening. Theconcrete manhole base is subsequently turn -ed over and the seals can be installed ifnecessary. The finished element is thentransported by a conveyor belt to the out-door area and placed into storage.

Great satisfaction after the first weeks of production

The managing directors Hans and JörgRinninger are convinced that the monolithicconcrete manhole base is the way to go.Their goal is the manufacture of high-qualityconcrete manhole elements from high per-formance concretes which, with penetrationdepths of less than 10 mm (Primuss Basic),

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Finished monolithic manhole base in the machining station

Control panel directly on the milling station




or less than 5 mm (Primuss Pro) at the sur-face, can face up to competing products.The quality of the later product directlydepends on the quality of the concreteused. Primuss Pro manhole bases, for exam-ple, are manufactured from high-strength C90/105 concrete. The aforementionedquality assurance at Rinninger guarantiesthe customer high-quality concrete productsthat can measure up to the positive charac-teristics of plastic surfaces.

A further advantage emphasised by themanaging directors is the fact that earth-moist concretes are processed. This allowsgreat flexibility in production and requiresfew moulds, since the blanks are alreadydemoulded when taken out of the Atlas.Hence, an ordered manhole can be sup-

plied within a day in principle and the pro-duction output does not depend on thenumber of moulds. In pure order-based pro-duction, around 20 to 30 monolithic con-crete manhole bases are currently manu-factured daily. The target is a capacity utili-sation of approx. 40 monoliths per day.

Following the first weeks of production, therésumés of the two managing directors areabsolutely positive and they are certain thatthe investment in the Primuss method is abig step in the right direction.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

Hans Rinninger u. Sohn GmbH u. Co. KGStolzenseeweg 988353 Kißlegg im AllgäuT +49 7563 9320F +49 7563 [email protected]

Prinzing GmbHAnlagentechnik und FormenbauZum Weißen Jura 389143 Blaubeuren, GermanyT +49 7344 1720F +49 7344 [email protected]

Finished concrete manhole base Milled manhole base, NW 1,200 mm,overall height 1,400 mm with milled connections and channels for FBS concretepipes, NW 800 mm

Primuss Pro manhole base


Production of individually milled monolithic concrete ...

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