In 1550 a young man named Johannes was apprenticed to an ironworker in Sacerno, Emilia Romagna.
He soon acquired the nickname "Maccaferri" - literally 'He who strikes iron'. The foundry in which he worked; made wrought iron gates and fences for the surrounding principalities. These principalities would eventually combine to form the country we now know as Italy.
The company grew over the centuries, and in 1886, Maccaferri's descendants made the first wire products. The wire was hand woven into fences and 'gabions'. Indeed, Maccaferri is credited with being the inventor of the modern gabion, with the patent for box gabions granted to Maccaferri in the late 1890’s.
The first gabion retaining structure was constructed in 1893 to retain the river banks of the River Reno at Casalecchio. It took 650 workers, 34 days to install the 2,900 gabions!
It is still in place today.
Later that year, a flatter 'gabion mattress' was fabricated for soil erosion control on the River Reno. The term Reno Mattress was born.
Since these innovative beginnings, Maccaferri has continued to grow from strength to strength. The Maccaferri Industrial Group remains a diverse conglomerate with interests in food, construction, wire products, machinery, property and finance sectors.
We manufacture our quality materials from our factories on 5 continents, from San Paulo to Jakarta and Maryland to Moscow.
In North America, Maccaferri is known as the market-leader in gabions and mattresses.
Our heritage provides a foundation of experience and credibility
Our experience enables deep knowledge of our solutions
Our goal is to transfer this knowledge to our Clients
Our Clients are our past, present and future
