How it all began
The history of saw is closely linked to the life story of its founder, Adolf Schmitter. After an apprenticeship in structural and civil engineering, the 1932-born entrepreneur ventured into self-employment at the age of 22 and founded his first company, saw spannbetonwerk ag, on 30 October 1958. As a pioneer of the first hour, he and his team produced concrete elements at Zehntfeldstrasse in Widnau.
Soon the first prestressed concrete structures for industrial and commercial buildings – still a central pillar of saw spannbetonwerk ag today – were calculated, designed and manufactured.
1963 saw schmitter ag was founded. Due to a lack of space at the previous location, Adolf Schmitter looked around for new building land. They found what they were looking for in the Nöllen industrial area, and the local council at the time said: “In Nöllen you can do whatever you want”. From the very beginning, the company relied on the railway, and a railway siding was built at the same time.
Element plant
For more than half a century, the saw has been producing concrete elements in all possible shapes, dimensions and colours at the Element plant. This has already resulted in a number of technically and aesthetically impressive industrial, commercial, hall, residential, office and bridge constructions. With the production of prestressed concrete elements, various single and multi-storey buildings with large spans for column-free construction and with high payloads can be realised.
In recent years, saw spannbetonwerk ag has also specialised in concrete facades. There are (almost) no limits to the architectural diversity of concrete element facades. With many different techniques – such as coloured concretes, textured matrices, photo concrete and a wide variety of surface treatments – expressive and durable buildings can be constructed from concrete.
Concrete plant, logistics and rental
Since 1963, the company has also been producing ready-mixed concrete in its own concrete plant for its customers in the region. This includes not only advice on building materials such as concrete, coloured concrete, cement, gravel, sand and mortar, but also the associated logistics. We also produce recycled concrete in Widnau. Components from a demolition or a surplus are crushed, sorted and reused as gravel substitute for the production of concrete. A sensible cycle for the benefit of nature.
All raw materials are delivered via the company’s own railway siding and finished concrete elements are transported away via the railway network.
Since 2020, the company has been operating a container terminal for combined transport on an area of around 3,000m² on the company premises in cooperation with SBB Cargo. Here, the advantages of rail are combined with the advantages of road.
With the construction of three service centres, the saw offers around 30,000m² of industrial and commercial space for rent. Modern and varied premises with different uses are available for companies and private individuals.
A family business where quality plays a role
Around 120 people are employed at the Widnau site. The company’s most valuable asset – its employees – have many years of experience and work on exciting and varied projects in a young and dynamic team. Saw offers its customers an all-round service by providing numerous services from a single source.
The saw group is now managed by the 3rd generation and continues to be family-owned.
