Hobas

It all began quite modestly at the Basel Dye Works in 1957 where wooden cylinders were employed for the dyeing process. These kept splintering and deforming after some time putting the expensive textiles at risk. Seeking a suitable replacement for the cylinders, the factory's engineers developed a centrifugal casting method using glassfiber reinforced plastics (GRP). Thanks to the method and material, they achieved perfectly concentric cylinders with a precise outer diameter and smooth surface - just as required.

GRP had previously been used for shipbuilding, automobile and aircraft industry. However, its resistance to both corrosion and chemicals also made the material highly suitable for other applications. The Swiss recognized its benefits and soon employed centrifugally cast pipes for conveying water - the pipes laid at that time are still in use today. Step by step, the pipes were improved, the manufacturing process was automated, the product range extended and tailor-made fittings were added to the product range during the subsequent years.

HOBAS manufactures circular and non-circular (NC) pipes as well as fittings, tanks and manholes from GRP. These are utilized in various fields of application such as for example sewer and hydropower systems, potable water lines, irrigation and drainage, as protection and ventilation pipes. They are also utilized as shafts, for flood protection measures and in various industrial applications.

HOBAS Centrifugally Cast Pipe Systems can be installed in open trench as well as trenchless by pipe jacking or relining/sliplining, above ground and subaqueous.