On 19th May 2006, the third phase was completed and the new heat exchanger tower and processing plant for alternative fuels officially inaugurated. This meant a provisional halt in a four-year investment phase covering everything from the quarry to the cement clinker cooler as well as a processing plant for alternative fuels. The core of the investment was a 5-step heat exchanger plus calciner, combustion chamber and tertiary air supply with a kiln capacity of approx. 1,400 tonnes per day (by the end of the expansion phase this value will increase to 2,200 tonnes per day). The heat exchanger tower is 100 metres high and anchored 22 metres deep in the ground. The work that went into its erection amounted to 250,000 man-hours, or 151 man-years.
