A faraway adventure in Egypt

Cairo in the early 1980s. Hotels, roads and railway lines are springing up all over the country. Tourism was becoming an important economic sector, and the government was pushing hard to develop the infrastructure needed to support it. 

The large construction projects are also attracting many foreign companies to the country. European and especially German construction companies have an international reputation. They are known for the quality of their track construction. Among them is a French construction company that is coming to Egypt to build the Cairo-Alexandria line. However, cooperation with the Egyptian state railways was not a success: payments for the work carried out were not made and a dispute arose, with the result that the French company withdrew, leaving the Egyptian state railways without a maintenance company. Consultants from the Egyptian railways, who also work for the German railways, meet with LEONHARD WEISS, a construction company with expertise in track construction. The exchange was fruitful: the challenge was accepted - with the aim of exploiting the local upturn and gaining new experience. In 1984, a delegation of almost 20 LEONHARD WEISS employees from Göppingen and Crailsheim arrived in Cairo.

LEONHARD WEISS is working on repairing the line. This includes, in particular, the operation of the machines and welding work – all of which the Egyptian workers, with all their expertise, are unable to do. Despite the preparation, the working conditions on site are unpredictable: finding accommodation for the workers is more than difficult. Accommodation in the immediate area was not acceptable, so we spent a long time looking for suitable options. Then I started looking for accommodation myself. I went there a few times – especially when there were problems,' recalls Ulrich Weiss. 

The railway runs through vast deserts and dusty towns, the sun beats down from a cloudless sky and there are frequent technical problems. But despite the communication problems and setbacks, friendships develop on the construction site and many new insights are gained into each other's cultures and ways of working. 

By the way, laying tracks on pure sand is easier than you might think. You just have to lay the right substructure of gravel and the track can be laid. The bigger challenge is the language barrier. Communication takes place in English or – if the language is not mastered – with hands and feet. LEONHARD WEISS was gradually commissioned to build further sections of track between Cairo and Alexandria, so that in the end the construction site covered 120 kilometers and took a total of three years. Around 20 machine operators, welders and foremen from LEONHARD WEISS, from Hohenlohe, Swabia and even the deepest parts of Bavaria, defied the challenges on site and completed all the contracts as agreed. 

In the end, however, Egypt remained an 'international experiment'. It was not the heat or faulty construction equipment that caused the project to fail, but the complicated execution. For managing directors and shareholders Werner Schmidt-Weiss and Ulrich Weiss, the payment transactions alone resemble a thriller. To collect their money, they travel back to the country after the work is completed and return home with a suitcase full of cash. Only to find that the banknotes are worthless. This is due to currency reform that had just taken place, of which neither of the two managers had been informed. Over time, however, legal solutions were found to restore the value of the services. 

Today, the railway line between Cairo and Alexandria is no longer in operation. But if you fly over the country, you can still see the tracks laid by LEONHARD WEISS 40 years ago – they are still visible from the air. 

Today, LEONHARD WEISS carries out projects exclusively in Europe, with a focus on Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Central and Eastern Europe. Egypt remains a unique undertaking – but also an unforgettable adventure.