Design and manufacture of hydraulic steel structures: trash racks, trash rack cleaning machines, gates, flaps and stoplogs for hydropower plants.
Fäh Maschinen- und Anlagenbau AG
Leimen 13, 8750 GlarusNew on Amplifa
About us
Fäh Maschinen- und Anlagenbau AG in Glarus is a long-established Swiss company in hydraulic steelwork with a focus on hydropower plants. Its core competencies include trash racks, fish protection racks, trash rack cleaning machines, flaps, gates, stoplogs as well as sediment flushing systems, oil-hydraulic systems, penstocks, pressure gates and control systems for power plant installations. All designs are developed and manufactured in-house in Glarus; the company employs around 25 staff and a few apprentices. Production is mainly in steel, with stainless material used for sealing surfaces. Machining is carried out, among other things, on a 5-axis machining centre with a table size of 4 x 9 m. In addition to production, the company offers special on-site installations, service and maintenance as well as contract manufacturing. Customers include Axpo Hydro AG, CKW, KWO, BKW, EWZ, SBB as well as the Leibstadt and Gösgen nuclear power plants.
- Site
- Glarus
- Processes
- Hydraulic steelwork: trash racks, fish protection racks, trash rack cleaning systems, flaps, gates,, Telescopic trash rack cleaning machines (hydraulic), Articulated-arm trash rack cleaners, Cable-driven trash rack cleaning machines, Mobile trash rack cleaning machines (cable/hydraulic machines), Chain-driven trash rack cleaning machines, Horizontal trash rack cleaners, Flap gates / flap weirs
- Materials
- Steel (hydraulic steelwork), Stainless material / stainless steel (sealing surfaces), Steel, Stainless material / stainless steel
- Certificates
- EN ISO 9001, EN 1090, ISO 9001
- Founded
- 1935
- Employees
- 25
- Industries
- Hydropower, Hydraulic steelwork, Flood protection
- 01
Design and project engineering in Glarus
- 02
Steel fabrication and metalworking
- 03
Machining (5-axis machining centre)
- 04
Welding, drilling, cutting
- 05
Control system construction
- 06
On-site installation
- 07
Service and maintenance
Materials and processes
Steel
Main material for trash racks, gates, flaps, stoplogs, penstocks and flood protection in hydraulic steelwork.
Stainless material / stainless steel
Used for sealing surfaces in the side and sill areas of flaps and gates to ensure a long service life.
Location
Glarus
CHHeadquarters, production, office
- Lot size
- Single systems and customer-specific manufacturing
- Materials
- Steel, stainless steel
- 5-axis machining centre (table size 4 x 9 m)
- 2 large production halls
- New metalworking shop building 70 x 30 m with 32-t hall cranes
- Control system construction
- Oil-hydraulic system manufacturing
Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydraulic steelwork: trash racks, fish protection racks, trash rack cleaning systems, flaps, gates,Engineering | – | – | – | – | Steel, Stainless steel |
| Telescopic trash rack cleaning machines (hydraulic)Installation | – | up to 11m × Lifting heights up to 6 m | – | – | – |
| Articulated-arm trash rack cleanersInstallation | – | up to 6m × Lifting heights up to 12m | – | – | – |
| Cable-driven trash rack cleaning machinesInstallation | – | up to 10m × Lifting heights up to 30m | – | – | – |
| Mobile trash rack cleaning machines (cable/hydraulic machines)Installation | – | up to 5m × Lifting heights up to 30m | – | – | – |
| Chain-driven trash rack cleaning machinesInstallation | – | up to 6m × Lifting height up to 4m | – | – | – |
| Horizontal trash rack cleanersInstallation | – | Rack length 2 to 50 m × Rack height 1 to 6 m | – | – | – |
| Flap gates / flap weirsJoining | – | Flap widths 0.5 to 48 m × Flap heights 0.3 to 6.5 m | – | – | Steel, Stainless material (sealing surfaces) |
| Segment gates / segment weirsJoining | – | Segment widths 2 to 25 m × Segment heights 1 to 6.5 m | – | – | – |
| Slide gatesJoining | – | Gate widths 0.2 to 15 m × Gate heights 0.2 to 8 m | – | – | – |
| Combinations (segment/slide gates with mounted flap, double gates)Joining | – | Gate widths 1 to 25 m × Gate heights 2 to 8 m | – | – | – |
| StoplogsJoining | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| Oil-hydraulic systems (revision, renewal, piping, roll-formed pipe ends)Installation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sediment flushing systems (Fäh sediment flusher)Installation | – | Sediment flusher length 15 to 35 m | – | – | – |
| Bieri sediment flushers (revision/renewal)Installation | – | Sediment flusher length 15 to 40 m | – | – | – |
| Special sediment flusher with plate slide valve DN 100Installation | – | Sediment flusher length 18 m | – | – | – |
| Control system construction (for hydropower plants)Installation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Penstocks, pressure gates, flood protection, weir installationsInstallation | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| Special installations (welding, drilling, cutting on site)Installation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Trash racks with special bar profile (various sizes)Joining | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| Fish ascent and descent / fish protection racks (patented)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Machining (running tracks, racks with fine bar spacing)Machining | – | Table size 4 x 9 m | – | – | – |
2 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-axis machining centre | – | 1 | Table size 4 x 9 m | 2013 | Glarus |
| Hall cranes (metalworking shop) | – | – | Metalworking shop 70x30m | 2026 | Glarus |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
The company is certified to EN ISO 9001 and EN 1090. Precise machining of running tracks and rack components also enables the cleaning of racks with fine bar spacing.
| Evidence | Glarus |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 | |
| EN 1090 |
History
- 1935
Company founded by Vincenz Fäh-Berhards
- 1937
Purchase of the property in Leimen, Glarus; setting up a workshop; development of the first cable-driven trash rack cleaning machine
- 1954
Vincenz Fäh-Herrli continues the business; entry into hydraulic steelwork
- 1966
Construction of the first horizontal trash rack cleaning machine
- 1975
Conversion into Vincenz Fäh Maschinen-Metallbau AG
- 1994
Development and optimization of the Fäh sediment flushing system
- 1999
Acquisition by Melchior and Res Lütschg; renaming to Fäh Maschinen- und Anlagenbau AG
- 2005
Establishment of an in-house control system division, mainly for hydropower plants
- 2008
Construction of a new machine shop and office building
- 2013
Commissioning of the new 5-axis machining centre, table size 4 x 9 m
- 2017
Purchase of the Zsckokke-Wartmann archive as well as parts of the H. Erne AG archive
- 2020
Shareholding of Hansruedi Grob at 30%
- 2022
Shareholding of Tobias Rhyner at 30%; retirement and departure of Melchior Lütschg; Sustainability Award from the Glarus Cantonal Bank for the fish protection rack
- 2026
Construction of a new metalworking shop 70 x 30 m with 32-t hall cranes