intro
editorial 3
Dear Customers,
It is with great pleasure that we present Sika’s new international customer magazine. In addition to our good local relations, this magazine will give you the opportunity to learn more about Sika’s cutting-edge technology. The magazine’s title is our agenda: You will read about exceptional building projects that were achieved with Sika products, but also about ambitious company developments, such as our new Technology Center in Zurich that will strengthen our innovation capabilities. In every
Ernst Bärtschi, CEO Sika AG
issue, the magazine will focus on a Sika product segment, such as concrete or adhesives for industrial use. This current issue is dedicated to concrete. We will also concentrate on a different aspect of the Sika brand and show you the values that we share as a company and the principles we stand for. I hope you enjoy reading ambitions!
Dear Readers, Concrete stands for durability. And Sika has contributed to that standing significantly in the course of its almost 100-year history. If there is a need for concrete with special characteristics, Sika products are there. At the tunnel construction site for a new railway through the Gotthard massif in Switzerland (called NEAT), for example, retarders prevent concrete from hardening on its long journey into the depths of the mountain. After placing, accelerators speed hardening and shorten work cycles, while Ernesto Schümperli, President of Business Unit Concrete
special powders boost the material’s strength. Superplasticizers grant easy application during all this time. They all contribute to the durability of the structure. For the most part, concrete is made of natural, raw materials and “green concrete” is now an industry buzzword. It is all about using a maximum of renewable materials or materials that greatly improve energy efficiency during production. Sika pays close attention to ensure that the materials we use for
ambitions 1/2008 ambitions is Sika’s international customer magazine. It appears twice a year in English (circulation: 5000 copies). Project lead: Silvia Schärer, Kathrin Müller, Sika Services AG, Zurich Editor’s address: Sika Services AG, Corporate Marketing, Tüffenwies 16, CH-8048 Zurich, Switzerland; e-mail: ambitions.magazine@ch.sika.com
our international production are local. Sustainability is also a form of durability. Sika’s rise and constant growth as an enterprise is as durable as the concrete we produce. Sika has the right chemistry. And it is precisely that chemistry that we wish to communicate through our publication ambitions. This first edition of our customer magazine stands – how could it be anything else – under the motto “durability”.
Concept: Andreas Turner (editing and production), Beni Spirig (design), Infel AG, Zurich, Switzerland Printing: Abächerli Druck AG, Sarnen, Switzerland Contributors to this issue: Bastian Bicher, Reto Clenin, Laura Egli, Ricardo Gomez, Jeannette Kaufmann, Don Lewis Kirk, Kathrin Müller, Silvia Schärer, Jürg Schlumpf, Martin Stutz, Andreas Turner All trademarks used or mentioned herein are protected by law. Reproduction is permitted with the written consent of the publisher.
04 Commitment Dependable Innovations
18 Fascination Spotlight on Concrete
06 Sika Local The Dubai Metro Project
22 People Patron Saints of Miners
08 Interview Architect Valerio Olgiati
24
Success Story Dissipating Earthquake Forces
12 Focus The Gotthard Base Tunnel
25 Events A Fantasy World Made of Concrete
13 Retro The Order Called for a Sealing!
26 Exceptional Concrete Truck Drivers Competition
14 Know-how Sika’s New Technology Center
27 You Do You Speak Sika?
ambitions | no. 1