Grain store in the port of Genua, 1899-1901
HOCHTIEF took on a contract in 1899 to build a number of grain silos, together
with equipment for extracting and pumping the grain. Incidentally, these silos in
the port of Genua (Italy) are still in operation today.
This project is of great significance for a number of reasons. It was not only the first contract the company had received from a foreign country but also the first reinforced concrete building that HOCHTIEF ever built.
Moreover, hardly any other construction company in the world was prepared at
that time to take the daring step of taking on a "turnkey" project.
And all that for the fixed price of 3.25 million Swiss Francs. The fact that Philipp
Helfmann also bought shares in the silo company testifies not only to his commercial
farsightedness but also to the origins of "BOT" (Build Operate Transfer) projects -
and all that was nearly 100 years before the Athens Airport project.
