The history of Italcementi is the history of the cement industry in Italy. The company was founded over 150 years ago in Bergamo when the first cement was ground in a watermill in 1864. Italcementi has since become a leader in Italy, both from the industrial and market perspective.
The current Italcementi industrial structure for cement production in Italy consists of eight full-cycle cement plants, a site for special products, and six grinding centers.
The overall industrial network also boasts a relevant presence in the concrete sector, through 110 ready-mix concrete plants and 17 quarries for aggregates. Italcementi is a market leader in Italy, both in the cement and ready-mix concrete business.
Along with its history, the Company has actively participated in the development of Italy, by contributing to important infrastructure such as the “Autostrada del Sole”, the main national motorway going from Northern to Southern Italy. With a strong vocation for innovation, Italcementi has been a partner of great engineers and architects for major works such as the Pirelli Skyscraper, one of the tallest buildings in reinforced concrete in the world, built-in 1956 in Milan, and based on a project by Giò Ponti and Pierluigi Nervi. The Papal Audience Hall in Rome, known as Aula Nervi, was built with a special cement developed in Italcementi laboratories in Bergamo. More recently, Italcementi was engaged in developing a new and truly innovative material that lead to the creation of the extremely complex shapes of Palazzo Italia, the iconic Italian pavilion at Expo 2015 Milano. The most recent public works in which the Company was involved in the new Genoa Bridge. A set of competencies and materials were deployed by Italcementi and Calcestruzzi for the realization of this symbolic structure: seventy people, including specialized technicians, plant operators, and material technologists were involved; products used were 100% certified along the entire production chain; 6,000 laboratory tests were carried out; 67,000 cubic meters of concrete were used for the foundations, the pillars that support the bridge and the slab, which was then covered with an asphalt layer; the production plants were awarded two international certifications and as many as 100 vehicles were utilized daily for the transportation of material.
Among the most recent achievements, i.lab (built-in 2012) deserves a special mention. Located at the Kilometro Rosso scientific and technologic park in Bergamo, the building was designed by architect Richard Meier and it hosts the Italian Headquarters of Italcementi. i.lab is the synthesis of the Company’s commitment to innovative and sustainable technologies and materials.
