A LONG STORY
WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON DEMOLITION SITES SINCE 1961
A LONG STORY
Luigi, Pietro and Angela Cinerari join their forces in a company, registered in Pavia: Luigi, a skilful scaffolding builder, calls it ARMOFER (Armature in Ferro / Iron reinforced).
First edition of Samoter in Veronathe Earthmoving Machinery Exhibition. The Cinerari brothers visit it determined to combine the artisan criteria of work with the new 'modern' machines.
Luigi's creativity and skill as a scaffolding builder solve a major problem at the Court of Milan: after the fall of a slab, in order to secure the marble facing of the entire Piacentini building, Luigi avoids the costly construction of the perimeter scaffolding by designing and building an imposing self-propelled crane with which he toured the Court.
Armofer, after having worked together for years, takes over the means and resources of the Ciprandi company, which closes down. Luigi also takes with him a valuable collaborator, Giovanni Pandolfi, who will remain in Armofer for 40 years, until 2007, always alongside Luigi's children and nephews.
The Cinerari brothers purchase the first machines with mechanical kinematics, the Ruston Bucyrus. This is how they tackle the demolition of the Burgo paper mill in Verzuolo, Cuneo, including the 40-meter-high chimneys. The decommissioning of large industrial sites begins. This is followed year after year by the decommissioned paper mills in Mantua, Maslianico (CO), Lugo di Vicenza, Treviso, Germagnano (TO), Ferrara, Romagnano Sesia.... 25 years of almost uninterrupted work for Cartiere Burgo.
Aware of the need to recover all the waste material, Pietro organizes the transport of the iron cut and cleaned in the yards to the Siziano warehouse, taking advantage of the nearby railway that used to pass through Villamaggiore (today the Passante Ferroviario).
The law makes it compulsory to install "a complete iron fence around the buildings to be demolished" for safety reasons. Luigi was already doing this when he started his business. His Armofer has 23 employees and is the only company in Italy dedicated exclusively to demolition. In safety.
Demolition of the former Albergo Commercio in Piazza Fontana in Milan, still damaged by the war, occupied by students in '68 and evacuated by the police in August '69. "Suddenly the scaffolding shook and pieces of window frames came at us like shrapnel. We didn't understand what it was; I was afraid that the oxygen cylinders for the cutting torch, which Luigi had delivered that morning along with two trucks of brand-new deck boards, might have exploded. (Testimony of Gianni Pandolfi, the day after the massacre of December 12, 1969).
Milan, Piazza Fratelli Bandiera: demolition of the former school complex for the Municipality of Milan. The building was damaged by the war. The Municipality demands short execution times, incompatible with the manual techniques of the time. Cinerari brings to the site the mechanical rope tractor with the vibrating bowl (never seen in Milan before) and finishes the work ahead of schedule.
Fiat-Allis is born in Italy. In the following years, Cinerari buys one after the other some machines, among which the Fiat FE28.
Demolition of Industrie Osva in Sesto San Giovanni. Luigi brings with him his eldest son Andrea who, still a 9-10 years old child, shows an uncommon passion for machines. Observing his father and his collaborators working, Andrea "invents" a system to move the machine (and therefore the operator) away from the building that is about to collapse. It is the theoretical model of the safe operation of the mechanical machine.
The first hydraulic machines arrive on site: excavators and cranes that within a few years will be equipped with hydraulic grapples and shears. The mechanical felling techniques change completely. The first hydraulic excavator is the Simit SL11 with bucket. The whole decade (and more) Armofer demolishes for Industrie Pirelli in Bicocca, Milan.
Armofer built a 45 m high scaffold (using 35.000 clamps) around the block in the center of Milan in largo Donegani. An exceptional snowfall buried the city under 1 meter of snow. The scaffolding, designed by Luigi Cinerari, resisted despite the excessive load on the cantilevered splinter guards. Site foreman Gianni Pandolfi remembers the entire day, after laboriously reaching the site, spent cleaning them from the snow. By evening, the structures were back in full working order and safe.
Andrea Cinerari, in Armofer since 1981, comes of age and can finally follow the first construction sites on his own, with the responsibility of the machines, including the rope tractor (which he was already using under the guidance of Roberto Ferrandi). In the eighties all the young Cinerari's enter the yard: Gianfrancesco in 1984, Stefano in 1986 and finally the youngest, Emilio in 1987.
Arriving on site the first PMI 815 'modern' excavator hydraulic crawler already equipped with the first hydraulic grapples and shears, the great 'novelty' on the market in those years. Luigi bought it for his son Emilio, for the construction sites in the centre of Milan.
Demolition of the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, Via Marco Polo. The work was carried out by Andrea Cinerari, who chose the "traditional" system with the "pear" for the demolition and completed it with absolute precision, safely and on time. A great success for Armofer, a great lesson for everyone.
Luigi Cinerari dies, a few years after his brother Pietro. There are many difficulties, but the Cineraris have "demolition in their blood" and a passion for the demolition profession in their DNA. Gianfrancesco, Andrea, Stefano and Emilio Cinerari, although very young, had already made their bones in the company; they inherited a solid thirty-year business and decided, together, to take over the reins, open to the new rules of Quality (after Tangentopoli) and the new European Market, which requires adaptation to new operating and safety standards, new procedures and new laws.
The first machines in the fleet "wear" the company colours; the Ferrari red chosen is destined to become synonymous with quality in the demolition sector as well.
Andrea Cinerari brings to Siziano from Belgium the first long arm excavator for demolition at great height: Caterpillar 330B (not yet sold in Italy), immediately painted red.
Armofer faces the new millennium with a major restructuring of the warehouse, logistics, mechanical workshop and new impetus to the business. The key words are Quality (immediately certified ISO 9001), Safety, Reliability. The growth becomes unstoppable.
The "giant" arrives at Armofer: Caterpillar 365B presented at the Samoter edition of that year. With its 33.50 m working height, it was destined to complete the demolition work at Pirelli (work sites opened in the mid-nineties).
Spectacular demolition on the Tanaro near Parma. From the riverbed a UHD excavator demolishes the bridge deck at over 20 m.
The Armofer fleet now includes many machines. On a single site, such as the demolition of the ABB complex in Lodi (200,000 mc), Armofer can count on 4-5 large excavators working simultaneously, as well as service vehicles and the self-propelled crushing unit.
The demolition of the old factories becomes selective: the planners decide to keep the historical façades and other valuable elements of 'industrial archaeology'. Armofer starts 'planning' demolition work together with its clients. The work becomes technically complex, for example when only the historic façades of the former Cantoni textile factory in Legnano need to be preserved.
Major interventions, one after the other, behind Porta Genova in Milan, between via Tortona, via Stendhal, via Savona, via Tolstoj. While factories give way to fashion and art for a new Milan, Armofer is increasingly refining its intervention procedures in sensitive, sensitive and crowded inner-city contexts equipped with the best technology on the market.
In order to provide an all-round quality service to its customers, Armofer is also able to organise exceptional transport on its own account and has permanent authorisations to be able to intervene promptly in case of emergency.
Paris, Intermat. The Liebherr stand is dominated by a red giant: the Liebherr 974 in UHD configuration, weighing 120 tons. From Paris it will go directly to the Jesi site for the industrial decommissioning of the Eridania Sadam sugar refineries.
Verona, Samoter. Armofer celebrates its first 50 years of activity with an elegant stand at the international exhibition. It is the year of memorable worksites such as the demolition of the Excelsior Hotel Gallia in Milan or the demolition with explosives of the Aler buildings in Pieve Emanuele. Armofer has 55 employees.
Following very complex and high quality works carried out between 2011 and 2012 (including the remote-controlled demolition of a motorway bridge with customised large excavators) Armofer was contacted by RAI, Piero Angela's Superquark, for a service dedicated to demolition in special and particularly complex contexts. The troupe was a guest on various construction sites.
City Life construction sites in Milan. In recent years, Armofer has been working in Milan as a strategic partner for all the major players in urban transformation and redevelopment, guaranteeing high quality standards and LEED certification for the sites it works on. Among others Bluestone, BNP Paribas, Coima, Colombo, Fondazione Prada, Hines, Percassi, Pirelli RE, Progetto Grande Bicocca, Savills, Triennale, Unicredit.
The first large demolition sites also open in Rome, with Colombo Costruzioni. In just a few years, Rome would no longer be an occasional place of work, but a place for complex, ongoing projects to transform the city and its urban context.
Expo Dismantling. The simultaneous management of 7/8 large demolition sites is an opportunity to verify the need for professional organisation and logistics in the service, for the management of resources, vehicles and disposal, aimed at the greatest possible recycling.
A unique intervention in Italy and perhaps in Europe, Armofer tackled the decommissioning and securing of the 100 m high plant at the Sannazzaro de' Burgondi refinery, devastated by fire. The "aerial" demolition is designed in detail, carried out with 49 ton crawler excavators suspended from cranes, fully customised and remotely radio-controlled.
The new machines are increasingly powerful and high-performance. Liebherr 960 arrives on the Cremona refinery site, updated with Industry 4.0 standards.
Decommissioning at Enel power plants. One after the other, Armofer plans and carries out the complete decommissioning of the plants, from Calabria to Sardinia.
60th anniversary of activity. Another milestone in Armofer's history of growth and success.
