In the Verona stoneworking region of Italy, the industry is so deep that some factories have developed in a very specialized way. One example of this is AGV Marmi e Graniti srl - part of the Testi Group - which concentrates on cutting marble blocks into slabs at its plant in Volargne, Verona, Italy.

AGV Marmi e Graniti creates slabs for standard applications as well as customized architectural work, such as the Rosso Verona marble that was used on the Banco Popolare project. The company's blockyard stores a broad range of marble blocks from the Verona region and throughout Italy - as well as materials from overseas quarries. Heavy-duty, 40-ton cranes are used to transport blocks around the yard and to the plant itself.

Slabbing is completed with gangsaws from BM of Italy, which have up to 66 diamond-tipped blades and can accommodate blocks as large as 2.1 meters high x 3.1 to 3.2 meters wide. Although the blades generally pass through the marble blocks at a range of 25 to 35 cm per hour, the speed is slower at the top and the bottom of the block to ensure that no material is damaged.

Equipment at AGV Marmi e Graniti also includes a BM monoblade saw and a BM stationary diamond wire saw for block trimming. In addition to trimming blocks as needed, these saws are used to cut blocks into slabs of larger-than-standard thicknesses, such as 2-inch-thick slabs.

In order to keep organized, all blocks at AGV Marmi e Graniti are numbered with codes for the name of the quarrier, the date and other data.

With an eye on the environment, AGV Marmi operates a sophisticated water recycling system from Fraccaroli & Balzan. In this system, marble slurry is pressed into large “tiles” for disposal. The water goes into a reclamation pool, and it is ultimately reused in the factory. In all, 25% of the water used at AGV Marmi is recycled.