HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

From growing fine French mushrooms to restoring 15th-Century castles, the soft limestone found in parts of western France is an extremely versatile and invaluable resource. We visited the Maquignon Frères quarry in Usseau to learn more about the business behind it, and how its fleet of Hitachi construction machinery has contributed to transforming the region’s horticulture and architecture.

Tourists of western France often admire the centuries-old monuments, churches and châteaux dotted across the picturesque Poitou-Charentes region. However, few will be aware of the painstaking restoration process involved, which breathes new life into these historic buildings. Even fewer will know that it starts at a limestone quarry in Usseau, owned by a local family-owned company called Maquignon Frères.

The limestone is found at a depth of 15 metres. The first eight metres of earth are removed as overburden and used for filling in other parts of the quarry. The next seven-metre layer is a fine limestone-based material, which after processing makes an ideal fertilizer for mushrooms.

Up to 6,000 tonnes of this material is crushed (no larger than 10mm) at Usseau each month. It is then supplied to their customers, who spread it on top of the soil in which the mushrooms are grown. The crushed limestone maintains moisture from the ground and helps the mushrooms to grow.

Sales of this material account for 30 per cent of Maquignon Frères’ annual turnover. Having thrived during the Seventies, this part of the business is now maturing, partly due to changes in the mushroom-growing process. However, it is still popular in the Poitou-Charentes and Pays-de-Loire regions, throughout which Maquignon Frères supplies its customer base.

Beneath this layer lies high-quality limestone, which is used to restore stately homes, castles and châteaux, and also to construct new buildings. Each month, Maquignon Frères extracts a total of 300-400m³ of limestone and sells it to construction companies and private builders in made-to-measure blocks. These can be collected from the site or delivered thanks to the company’s nine-strong fleet of trucks.

As well as construction and restoration, the limestone is used to make a variety of domestic products, from tiles and fireplaces to statues and garden ornaments. Maquignon Frères has an on-site factory equipped with specialist machinery that cuts, sculpts and polishes the limestone, ready for decorative use.

Further evidence of the material’s many uses can be found in Maquignon Frères’ reception area. Alongside examples of the company’s ornate domestic and garden products is a picture of the founder’s two sons etched into the stone.

The Maquignon brothers, Dominique and Jean-Marc, now work with eight members of their extended family, including sisters Chantal and Isabelle. The business currently employs 24 people and has come a long way since their father, Roland, first discovered traces of soft limestone in his garden in 1954.

Then a singer in a folk band, Roland worked by hand to dig up the limestone in a nearby field and took it to a masonry, so it could be used in construction. As demand for the limestone increased, he decided to open up a quarry in 1970, two kilometres away from his home.

In the late Seventies, Jean-Marc and Dominique started working with their father and took control of the business with their sisters when he retired in 1986. Three years later, they opened the current limestone quarry in Usseau, a 15-hectare site with a 25-year licence. Then in 2001, they opened another 3.5-hectare quarry in Haims, which produces harder stone for garden ornaments.

“My brother and I found the site in Haims by chance,” explains Dominique, the company’s President. Now in charge of his father’s business, he talks about its development over the years with great pride: “We were hunting for pheasants in the area when we realised there was more limestone to be found here.” It seems like an echo of their father’s coincidental discovery more than 50 years ago. From excavation to loading and carrying the limestone to the factory, Maquignon Frères’ growing fleet of Hitachi construction machinery has played a vital role for many years. “We bought our first Hitachi machine, an EX400, in 1991,” says Dominique.

“Also working at the Usseau site is a Hitachi ZX460LCH excavator and a LX290E wheel loader. In Haims, we have a ZX210 and a new ZX50U-2 mini-excavator that was delivered earlier this year.”

Having established such a longstanding relationship with Hitachi, Maquignon Frères did not hesitate in choosing a ZW310 wheel loader to work at the Usseau quarry. It arrived in spring 2007 and had more than 1,200 hours on the clock a year later.

“It’s a beautifully designed machine and incredibly versatile,” says Dominique. “With both bucket and fork attachments, we can use it to carry the blocks of limestone and load them on to trucks.”

The new wheel loader has also helped to increase productivity at the quarry. “The lifting capacity of the ZW310 takes a heavy load,” says Dominique. “The damp, soft ground of the quarry also poses no problem for the ZW310. It has more traction than our older machines, and moves quickly and easily around the site.”

The benefits of the new Hitachi machine are also fully appreciated by operator Nicolas Trinquard. A member of the Maquignon family through marriage, he has worked for the company for several years and also drives the older LX model.

“Compared to the LX290E, the ZW310 is easier to handle and manoeuvre,” he says. “It is much more comfortable in the cab – the seat is softer, the suspension is good, and the all-round visibility is excellent. It is also more precise and stable when loading a truck.”

Nicolas also takes full advantage of the technology incorporated into the ZW310, such as the Total Torque Control and three-step clutch cut-off systems. However, he says the best thing about the wheel loader is its versatility. “You can do almost everything with the same machine – it can do so many jobs on this site,” he adds. “If I had to sum it up in one word, I’d have to say that it is excellent!”

As Nicolas drives the ZW310 around the quarry, the importance of its low-noise design becomes apparent. The sound from the engine and HS (Hitachi Silent) fan system is significantly suppressed. “It is noticeably quieter than older machines and less likely to disturb people living in the nearby village,” says Dominique. “This is another reason why this Hitachi model is so important to the work of Maquignon Frères and the local environment.”

The company’s positive experience – not only with this machine, but also Hitachi in general – owes much to its local Hitachi dealer, VSM. Manager Norbert Morisset started working with Roland Maquignon in 1980, and the relationship between VSM and Maquignon Frères has strengthened over the years.

“He is both a friend and business partner,” says Dominique. “VSM was one of the most important factors in choosing Hitachi machines. I appreciate the maintenance, service and repairs VSM and Hitachi provide, and their almost immediate response in the unlikely event of a breakdown. I also value the preventative maintenance and advice they give on changing consumable parts on the machines.”

VSM supplies Hitachi construction machinery to a relatively large area of western France, stretching as far as Tours to the north, Châteauroux to the east, and Angoulême to the south. However, its population is relatively sparse. Within this area is Poitou-Charentes, the smallest region in France with the second smallest regional economy.

Maquignon Frères may be thousands of miles away from the Hitachi Construction Machinery factories in Japan, but Dominique’s visit a few years ago had a big impact. “I was impressed by the production line and the overall size of the manufacturing plant,” he explains. “It was a positive and enjoyable experience, and reinforced my view on the quality of Hitachi construction machinery.”
A quick glimpse of his watch reveals the distinctive Hitachi logo and a reminder of the trip. It’s an entirely fitting symbol of his relationship with the manufacturer over the years, and of his company’s commitment to preserving buildings of the past, as well as constructing homes for the future.

Similarly, it marks the passing of time, during which the significance of the restorative work that Maquignon Frères contributes to will undoubtedly increase. So too will the demand for the limestone, which takes an incredible 90 million years to form. It seems the future for Maquignon Frères is set in stone.

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