Creating New Benchmarks
Fraste’s move into Canada signals new capabilities for the foundation sector
Fraste SPA Italy is a company born from tradition. Back
in the 1960s, the company’s founder, Benito Fracca,
followed the family’s vision of benchmarking products
that offered tremendous utility. Launching his mechanical
workshop in 1964, Fracca looked to the traditions
of his family and the historic forge they operated in Maccacari
near Verona, where his family made much-needed hard
goods for the town. Today, Fracca’s enterprise is an Italybased
leader in innovative equipment manufacturing.
From the outset, Fracca believed he could take the tradition
of his father’s village forge to a higher, more precise level
and build in a more modern context. Joining forces with the
Stefanini family, they formed Fraste (the company name is a
blending of the two family names), a mechanical workshop
dedicated to precision engineering with pioneering products.
“They began with the construction of some small agricultural
machineries, with hydraulic operation,” said Fraste’s
foundation division sales expert, Pierluigi Sanchi, who says
that hydraulic was still a very big unknown at the time.
Today, Fraste has earned a solid international reputation
for quality, performance and innovation with a line of drilling
COMPANY PROFILE
products for applications from water wells to geothermal
and geotechnical work as well as mineral exploration and
foundations, an important growth sector of their trade.
According to Sanchi, Fraste’s Foundation Series, MITO, offers
a wide range of drill rigs dedicated to foundation works such
as micro-piles, tieback anchors, jet grouting, soil nailing and
consolidation works, in general.
“Fraste offers several models of hydraulic multipurpose
drilling rigs that are able to completely perform all types of
small and medium ground engineering drilling works,” he
said, adding that MITO models can operate with all known
techniques and methods of drilling, thanks to their extreme
versatility and available configurations.
“All Fraste drilling rigs are equipped with advanced hydraulic
circuits and with innovative solutions, which allow the
installation and use of a wide range of rotary heads, hydraulic
drifters, double rotary systems, water and mud pumps and
are able to perform any type of rotary and rotopercussion
drilling,” said Sanchi. “Starting from smaller sizes and weight,
our foundation rigs includes models from four tons/8,818
lbs. up to 23 tons/48,500 lbs. As well, our hydraulic drilling
By Kelly Gray
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FRASTE
The MITO series is fully radio
controlled for safe operation on the
job site and for high productivity
PILING CANADA 73