Stainless steel structural hollow sections (SHS) are finding more and more uses in design projects for the public environment, where their excellent load-bearing properties, decorative looks and minimal maintenance all combine to make up a highly attractive package. Now Outokumpu India has confirmed this trend by winning an order to supply welded tubular sections in LDX 2101® material for a number of ‘Skywalk’ footbridges in Mumbai, India. A total of 200 tons of LDX railing sections covering a combined bridge length of 20 kilometers will help pedestrians cross safely over busy roads close to stations of the new Mumbai Metro.
| But it wasn’t just the inherent strength of SHS that proved crucial to winning the deal. – Our organization also displayed its strength in full, says Bengt Slotte, OSTP Product Manager for Structural Hollow Sections. |
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Outokumpu Stainless Tubular Products (OSTP) was chosen to supply the railings by the Indian architect firm Monarch Surveyor & Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd., and a number of factors spoke in our favor when this decision was taken, continues Bengt. |
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- One key aspect was our organization, with in-house raw materials supply from Outokumpu’s rolling mills in Nyby and Torneå (Tornio) followed by hollow-section manufacture on OSTP’s High Frequency (HF) welding line in Jakobstad. This was seen as a guarantee for both high quality and delivery precision.
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- Another important factor was the stainless steel know-how provided by our corrosion and welding experts at the Avesta Research Center (ARC). This was invaluable when the architects were making their final choice of material. To verify the properties of the LDX 2101® railings, welded and electropolished section parts were corrosion-tested in specified environments.
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Coordinating role for ABC Segment |
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Responsible for coordinating the affair with Outokumpu’s sales team in New Delhi and the assigned architects was Mats Segerbäck, Segment Solution Manager, Outokumpu ABC Segment, together with Bengt Slotte.
OSTP produces the tubes in three dimensions (25, 38 and 50 mm) from Duplex LDX 2101® grade strip, making full use of its extensive know-how and experience of SHS that has been built up over several decades. These tubes are shipped to Mumbai where they will be fabricated to railings with electropolished surface finish. |
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Market-adapted design solution |
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This project is thus an excellent example of how Outokumpu’s new segment-oriented marketing organization cooperates to develop market-adapted design solutions in stainless steel. – In a tough marketplace, success depends on being able to offer competitively-priced solutions that provide the customer with added value, concludes Bengt Slotte. With high-strength, long-life stainless grades like LDX 2101® emerging as increasingly interesting material for the construction industry. Deliveries of
LDX 2101® SHS tubes to Mumbai will begin during the first half of 2009.
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CAD illustration of a 4-meter-long ready-to-mount handrail section for Mumbai, India. |
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For more information, contact: |
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Bengt Slotte
Product Manager / SHS-Products
Outokumpu Stainless Tubular Products, Finland
Phone: +358 6 786 5230
Email: bengt.slotte(at)outokumpu.com |
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