Carlo Piazza’s working life began at the age of 14, first as a carpenter’s apprentice, then as a wheelwright, and also as a wood seller and a brick maker. In 1 934 he purchased “Cementi PO” one of the first cement works in the Casale area, which had been inactive for four years. This led to the founding of  “Victoria Lime and Cement Furnaces of Monferrato, a business that was to be of fundamental importance for the town of Trino [near Vercelli] and for a great many workers.

1935-1950: after rebuilding the plant, Carlo Piazza reorganized the Brusaschetto-Camino Monferrato quarry. The marl was extracted from great depths and transported to the cement works using a light guage railway line over the Po River. It was used to produce ‘natural’ cement, as is done in the rest of the Casale erea.

The second world war paralyzed production: the English bombs damaged the factory and the bridge collapsed, which interrupted the railway line. Barges were used to allow the business to get started again. In 1944, Carlo’s son Eugenio entered the business, after coming back from the war and after obtaining e degree in engineering. In 1949, the bridge over the Po River was rebuilt.

1951-1964: the recovery of the building sector led to an increase in production and the need for new plants. The age of natural cement was over. Other materials, which were mixed artificially were used to produce the new kind of cement. A rotary furnace was installed to replace the vertical ones. The Brusaschetto quarry had to be closed and another quarry in Verrua Savoia was purchased. On July 1, 1953 the company’s name was changed to “Cementi Victoria SpA”.

1965-2005: the factory was improved with the addition of more modern, automated machinery and the installation of modern filtering systems. This is the history of Cementi Victoria: sixty years of hard work which give testimony to the men who were responsible for it – Eugenio Piazza, joined by his sons Carlo and Mario during the 1980s. Together they have enabled the company to maintain the last operating furnace in the Casale area.