SSAB’s Steel Pile Day was held in Helsinki on January 23, 2025. The event attracted not just visitors from Finland but also from Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Latvia and other countries. The day, again included a wide range of presentations on foundation construction at customer sites and the solutions that SSAB offers.

One of the day’s top-rated presentations was given by Simone Rossetto (GeoLSA) ja Gadiel Coen (E&G S.r.l) on the construction of a new outlet for the outlet of the Pozzillo Dam in Sicily. The project used SSAB’s RD pile wall for the first time in Italy.

“Even though piling is certainly known in Italy, use of an RD pile wall was something completely new. The RD pile wall was ultimately an obvious choice because of the challenging conditions involved,” Simone Rossetto at GeoLSA explained.

He was particularly enthusiastic about the possibilities provided by the product, also with an eye to future projects. He was also pleased to hear during the day many new things about SSAB and the solutions it offers in the foundation construction industry and the possibilities brought about by new technologies.

 

Gadiel Coen, E&G S.r.l (left), Simone Rossetto, GeoLSA (top right), Simone Rossetto, Chiara Cucci, Quintilio Napoleoni (bottom right).

Antti Perälä, Project Engineering Manager at SSAB, presented design tools for SSAB’s pile products and manual updates at the event. “Updates are a continuous part of development work to promote product sales and to ensure correct use. Completed projects account for a big source of updates. For example, RD pile walls are already used in more than 300 projects in nine countries,” says Antti Perälä. The day also included many presentations on projects in Finland and a presentation of SSAB's Pulkkila Works by works manager Kari Salin.

Pasi Samppala at construction company GRK talked about the first areal contract for the Espoo Rail Line, where a special feature is challenging geology and working in proximity of the existing railway line. The project will help to free up track capacity for long-distance trains and allow commuter train services to expand.

The last customer project of the day was a presentation by Simo Luukkonen and Ari Juntunen (AFRY) about the Hailuoto Causeway bridge construction project. There have been studies on a fixed link between the mainland and Hailuoto since back in the 1980s. The Hailuoto Causeway includes two bridges, Huikku bridge and Riuttu bridge. Driven steel pipe piles installed against the compact sand layer will provide a foundation for the bridges. Various alternatives for the foundation of the bridges were studied, but SSAB's driven steel pipe piles were found to be the best option.

The Steel Pile Day was rounded off with a presentation by Janne Pirttijoki, VP and Head of BU Finland at SSAB. Janne gave a presentation about SSAB and SSAB’s fossil-free future and said that strong demand for emission-free steels and a general change in the market environment is supporting SSAB’s strategy for a fossil-free future. During the presentation, visitors also heard about SSAB's Nordic transformation which is proceeding as planned and in schedule.

 

Petteri Steen, Director, Tubular Products (left), Janne Pirttijoki, VP and Head of BU Finland and Petri Suonpuro, Head of Pile Products.

Janne Pirttijoki was at the event for the first time and said it was a clear success, where supply meets demand. "When an event attracts such a large number of customers in the industry, designers and many other industry partners in one venue each year, it is clearly a success and there is a place and a need for it. This shows how we genuinely meet the needs of our customers. I was also pleased to see that although the event has a Finnish identity, it nevertheless attracts a large number of international visitors. The foundation construction industry is also important at the SSAB level , something confirmed by this event” says Janne Pirttijoki.

Janne, Petteri and Petri reflected on the content of the day and said that the variety of presentations was positive. Even if we are in Finnish or Nordic foundation construction, the balance of presentations has to be right. "We always include in the event interesting international projects where we have been able to solve customer challenges with SSAB’s pile products,” says Petri Suonpuro.

"The event was once again very rewarding with interesting presentations and informative discussions with the visitors," says Petteri Steen. ”Next year will see the event held for the 20th time. We’re proud of the event and thank all visitors to the event and our own people for their contribution to the event,” Petri Suonpuro adds.

The annual Steel Pile Day attracted a large number of designers, experts, contractors, students and many others interested in the industry.

 

The presentations that were heard during the day can be viewed on the event website.