Foundation Construction Experts at SSAB’s Steel Pile Day in Helsinki

The event was kicked off by Kari Väliaho, General manager, Tubular Products at SSAB Europe, who challenged the participants to provide SSAB with feedback regarding product features, design solutions and other potential future needs.

Tampere piling sites providing ample examples

Downtown Tampere is being revitalized and redeveloped to further condense the urban infrastructure. There are several on-going projects, including the construction of a multi-purpose arena, which Head of Municipal Engineering Planning Unit, Jori Lehtokangas, discussed during the Steel Pile Day. He also mentioned the ongoing tramway project and the urban area of Hiedanranta, which is a testing platform for new technologies and methods, including earthworks.

Ossi Hakanen of Suomen Teräspaalutus Oy highlighted the use of drill piles at the Ranta-Tampella site.

Foundation reinforcement increases load bearing

Various methods have been carried out to reinforce foundations in Turku, and Reino Heikinheimo/Ramboll Finland Oy shared their experiences of these at the event.

Business Area Manager Jari Mara also showcased reinforcement sites from last year, featuring SSAB’s RR and RD piles.

RR and RD piles in waterfront construction sites

“The Westpro Portus project involved the construction of a 14-floor building at Verkkosaari, Helsinki. Almost two kilometers of SSAB’s RD600/18 and RD700/18 drill piles were used in the foundations of the building,” said Manish Jaiswal of Sipti Oy.

Examples of steel piling from pier sites completed last year included the Naantali pier project, were beam lengths ranged from 35 to 56 meters. These examples were presented by Esa Kunnassaari of Terramare Oy.

SSAB Europe’s Director of Infra, Hannu Jokiniemi, discussed a project where SSAB delivered RR piles to a new waste handling site on the island of Guernsey.

Experiences from RD pile wall and piling sites

Pasi Mäkinen/Skanska Infra Oy and Petteri Kronqvist/Sitowise discussed the design and implementation of the RD pile wall at the K6 building site in Helsinki. Close collaboration between the designer and the contractor produced new, innovative solutions.

SSAB’s Piet van Breukelen described the implementation of the Peterhead port RD pile wall in Scotland.

Raimo Isopahkala/Niskasen Maansiirto Oy shared news of wind farm piling projects that had been running smoothly in Northern Sweden and Haapajärvi, Finland.

Collaboration with academic institutions

The Steel Pile Day also featured students, who had completed their theses for SSAB. Niko Korhonen had studied the traction capacity of a grooved anchor pile, Samuli Laatinen studied the structural engineering of steel pile wall support, while Antti Ahonen studied the suitability and design of steel fiber reinforced concrete in composite structure columns and piles.

The RD pile wall AR application, which is freely downloadable from Google Play and Appstore, showcases the functionalities of an RD pile wall through an interactive 3D model.

Comments from participants

Managing director Kari Niemeläinen of Maarakennus Niemeläinen Oy, who has participated in the event several times already, has mainly used SSAB’s pile products in bridges and buildings.
“This time I was particularly interested in the presentation on the steel piling of pier sites,” Kari Niemeläinen comments.

Kari Niemeläinen, Maarakennus Niemeläinen Oy

Destia Oy’s Planning Manager Riikka Oksanen participated in the event for the first time. She is familiar with SSAB’s RR piles (bridge girder piling) as well as the RR and RD large diameter piles which are used in bridge construction.

“This event provides a comprehensive overview of the general development of the industry. I found the presentation about the building foundation reinforcement in downtown Turku very interesting,” states Riikka Oksanen.

Riikka Oksanen, Destia

SRV Infra Oy’s Project Manager Olli Sihvola has experience in using a wide range of SSAB products. He participated in the event for the third time.
“New methods and alternative products are interesting,” according to Olli Sihvola.

Olli Sihvola, SRV Infra Oy

Both Oksanen and Sihvola found the Steel Pile Day an excellent event for networking with other operators in the field.
Participants were also introduced to a range of SSAB pile products. There were also sections operated by Robit Oyj, Aurime Oy, Tibnor, Merox, Epiroc and Bauer Maschinen GmbH.

Tomi Järvinen, Aurime Oy

Aurime Oy designs, calibrates and installs energy piles for apartment buildings and detached houses, as well as industrial and office buildings.

“SSAB's piles feature plastic piping which allows energy from the foundation piling to be utilized for cooling and heating,” says Managing Director Tomi Järvinen at Aurime Oy’s section.