A new "pillar" in Langen near Frankfurt
Reinforced concrete sleepers can already be found in Monier’s patent specification of 1880. However, economically efficient solutions did not appear until after successful tests with prestressed sleepers had been carried out.
In 1950, Wayss & Freytag established a plant for the production of prestressed concrete sleepers in Langen. The sleepers which were produced there were characterized by a high dimensional accuracy. Due to a newly developed fixing for the sleepers in 1970, as a result of guaranteed directional stability in track geometry, train speeds of far more than 200 km/h could be achieved for the first time.
The sleeper factory was sold in 2003 after a change in the company’s core competencies.