Doppelmayr Planning A New Plant At Hohe Brucke Site

The cable car manufacturer Doppelmayr is planning a milestone to strengthen the Hohe Brücke location in Wolfurt. With new production halls and a high-bay warehouse, urgently needed capacities are to be created to meet increasing international demand. This major investment of over 200 million euros is a forward-looking decision for the Doppelmayr company, but also for the municipality of Wolfurt, emphasizes Gerhard Gassner, the managing director of Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH responsible for the production area. By concentrating the plants at the Hohe Brücke location, Doppelmayr is making space in the Rickenbach district for sustainable development as a high-quality residential area. With the commissioning of the new halls, the Kella factory in Rickenbach and rented production areas will move to the Hohe Brücke area.

Doppelmayr cable cars are in high demand internationally, and the North American market in particular is currently seeing a pleasingly high order situation. The factory at the Hohe Brücke site in Wolfurt is more than full, and an expansion is therefore urgently needed, explains Doppelmayr managing director Gerhard Gassner: “Our employees do an excellent job to complete all cable cars on time to the highest quality. However, we urgently need more space for production and warehousing and, above all, more employees in order to be able to meet these requirements in the future.”

Major investment for 850 jobs

A significant expansion of production at the Hohe Brücke site is planned. Over the next four to five years, space for 850 high-quality jobs is to be created here. The planned new production halls cover an area of ​​45,000 square meters, which is equivalent to the size of over six football fields. In the future, cable car components for the whole world will be produced in these halls, mostly in shift operations. The centerpiece is a high-bay warehouse with a storage capacity of 100,000 small parts storage spaces, 50,000 “Euro pallet spaces” and 1,800 spaces for large pallets (6x2.5m), which are used to serve the adjacent three-story production areas right through to shipping. With a height of 40 meters, this structure, like the underground car park, makes an important contribution to keeping land consumption as low as possible.

With construction costs of over 200 million euros, this is the largest single investment in Doppelmayr's 130-year company history. Gerhard Gassner: “For us, this major project represents a clear commitment to the Vorarlberg location, but above all to the market town of Wolfurt, to which our company traditionally feels very connected.”

Angelika Moosbrugger, Mayor of Wolfurt, is also pleased about the expansion plans: “Doppelmayr and the market town of Wolfurt have had a decades-long partnership. We are proud when a global company like Doppelmayr commits to the location and implements such major development steps here. In addition to its role as a strong employer, Doppelmayr is characterized by local support, for example from clubs and, most recently, as an ambitious developer of the Rickenbach district together with us as a community. We attach great importance to this cooperation on equal terms and wish you every success in this big project.”

Doppelmayr is making room for a high-quality residential area

Doppelmayr's decision to build a new production facility of this size at the Hohe Brücke site has a lasting positive impact on the development of Wolfurt. The Kella factory (on the road towards Bildstein) will be relocated to the Hohe Brücke area after the new production halls are completed. This frees up valuable land and opens up new opportunities for the use of the original Doppelmayr location. For Doppelmayr, it is very important to leave the vacated operating space with a high level of quality for the people of Wolfurt. A master plan was drawn up together with the market town of Wolfurt that provides for high-quality development of the area. Construction of the “Doppelmayr Quartier am Rickenbach” began in September 2023. In this project, Doppelmayr is developing new living space with a diverse range of offerings for the residents, with apartments, a guest house with an event hall and an underground car park, so that no more floor is sealed, but rather space is created for green open space.

New plant brings traffic relief

There are currently around 300 employees working in production at the Kella plant and rented buildings, who will in future work at the Hohe Brücke location on the federal highway. As a result of the move, the existing commuter and factory traffic will also disappear from the Rickenbach district, which will significantly ease the traffic through Schwarzach and Wolfurt. By relocating the Kella factory on Bildsteinerstrasse, a total of around 40,000 square meters of land can be used as building space to create living space in the future.