KIBAG

KIBAG is a Swiss construction-materials, contracting and environmental-services group headquartered in Bäch SZ, with its main office in Zürich-Wollishofen. Founded in 1926 through the merger of two gravel and dredging companies on Lake Zürich, Gassmann & Co and Helbling & Cie, it has grown into a nationwide group active in gravel and concrete production, road and civil engineering, and environmental remediation and disposal. The company describes itself as a Swiss family-owned business and a reliable partner for infrastructure and innovative solutions. KIBAG operates a large network of gravel pits, concrete plants, recycling centres and construction sites across Switzerland, with roughly 80 locations listed on its website. Its business areas include building materials (sand, gravel, crushed stone, ready-mixed concrete and long-term mortar), road and civil engineering (earthworks, road construction, canalisation, watercourse correction, lake-shore and harbour works, demolition, foundation engineering and specialist drilling), and environment and disposal (contaminated-site remediation, soil washing, recycling of construction waste). It also provides technical services for construction machinery and trucks, and operates yacht harbours on Lake Zürich. A distinctive feature of KIBAG is its use of lake shipping: it operates self-propelled barges (Ledischiffe) on Lake Zürich and barges (Nauen) on Lake Lucerne, transporting gravel and sand from its Nuolen quarry to concrete plants in Zürich Tiefenbrunnen and Wollishofen. The largest vessel, «Saturn», can carry more than 200 tonnes of gravel and sand at once. This lake transport gives KIBAG a cost and environmental advantage over road transport. The group is legally seated in Freienbach SZ (Bäch) and maintains its main office in Zürich-Wollishofen. In recent years, a controversy has developed over the future use of its Wollishofen site with its concrete plant and loading facilities. KIBAG will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.

KIBAG was formed in 1926 through the merger of two gravel and dredging companies operating on the upper Lake Zürich, Gassmann & Co and Helbling & Cie. Both were among the first mechanised Swiss firms in the construction-materials sector. In 1928, KIBAG began extracting gravel on land in Nuolen; later, gravel works were added in central, northern and eastern Switzerland and in the Mittelland. Like gravel extraction, concrete production developed into a core business of the KIBAG group. Over time, the company also expanded into civil engineering and grew through acquisitions into a nationwide group. While KIBAG still has its legal seat in Freienbach SZ, its actual main office is in Zürich-Wollishofen. In recent years, a controversy has developed over the future use of the operating site with its concrete plant and loading facilities in Zürich-Wollishofen. In 2026, KIBAG will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The group is active in four main business areas. The building materials division (gravel and concrete) covers the extraction of sand, gravel and rock, processing of sand, gravel, chippings and crushed stone, and production of ready-mixed concrete and long-term mortar. Services include sales from works and transshipment points, delivery to construction sites, and pumping of ready-mixed concrete directly into formwork. The road and civil engineering division, including specialist foundation engineering partly with equipment not otherwise available in Switzerland, covers earthworks, road construction and surfacing, canalisation, water mains, stream and river correction, lake-shore design and harbour construction, demolition and excavation support, pile foundations and sheet piling, piling from pontoons and wet dredging, and exploratory and purpose drilling. KIBAG also acts as general and total contractor. The environment and disposal division covers contaminated-site remediation, soil washing, disposal of pollutant-laden construction waste, and concrete and gravel recycling. Technical services in Bäch SZ coordinate and carry out repairs for construction machinery and trucks for the Aargau, Zürich, Winterthur, eastern and central Switzerland regions; construction operations in the cantons of Bern, Basel and Graubünden have their own technical services. KIBAG's yacht harbours on Lake Zürich are a small but financially strong and important part of the company, helping offset the intense price competition in the construction industry. Another financially lucrative activity is the acceptance of uncontaminated excavated material at various gravel pits. KIBAG operates several Ledischiffe (self-propelled barges) that transport gravel and sand from the Nuolen gravel works on Lake Zürich to the concrete plants in Zürich Tiefenbrunnen and Wollishofen. The largest barge, «Saturn», can carry more than 200 tonnes of gravel and sand at once. During the construction boom of the 1970s, up to 900 tonnes (500 cubic metres) of gravel and sand per day reached the two Zürich concrete plants by this route. This gave KIBAG a cost advantage over competitors, as road transport of gravel is many times more expensive than lake transport. The environmental advantage of lake transport is considerable.

• 2026

  KIBAG celebrates its 100th anniversary.

• 1928

  First land-based gravel extraction in Nuolen.

• 1926

  KIBAG formed through merger of Gassmann & Co and Helbling & Cie.

Swiss family-owned full-service construction materials and contracting group with integrated environmental services and lake logistics.

• Sand and gravel

• Crushed stone and chippings

• Ready-mixed concrete

• Long-term mortar

• Recycled concrete and gravel

1. 1KIBAG official websitekibag.ch
2. 2KIBAG Standortekibag.ch
3. 3Kibag – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
4. 4Kibag – Wikidatawikidata.org