HELKA® Column Shoes: Less material, more efficiency in precast column connections
For over 30 years, Peikko’s innovative bolted column connections have defined the game for faster, safer, and more efficient installation of precast concrete columns. HELKA® Column Shoe represents the next generation of this proven concept, combining optimized structural performance with a lighter and more compact design.
© Peikko Group Corporation
The HELKA® Column Shoe portfolio is now available as a complete product family, offering a consistent solution for a wide range of column connections. Combined with the latest developments in Peikko Designer® BOLTED CONNECTION, which is available as a cloud-based service, designers can efficiently specify and optimize bolted column connections for their projects.
Bolted connections keep going strong
The worldwide turbulence of the 2020s has posed many challenges for the construction industry. For bolted connections, however, the market changes have not been very drastic.
“Precast construction is on the rise as the megatrend of urbanization continues. Construction needs to be quick and efficient. The demand for safe and high-quality connections made in a monitored factory setting is increasing globally, replacing the pre-existing idea of cast-in-situ being the more cost-efficient option. This change in thinking can be seen both in and outside of Europe. Peikko’s bolted connections are well established in the industry, and we have a strong presence in the global market. We have been able to continue business as usual”, explains Slavomir Matiasko, Product Manager, Anchor Bolts and Shoes.
HELKA® Column Shoe: light, strong and reliable
HELKA® Column Shoe is CE marked and ETA assessed. HELKA® is suitable for all types of construction: offices, residential buildings, infrastructure projects, and more. HELKA® offers lightness that doesn’t compromise on strength.
“We say that HELKA® is light to design, light to handle, and light for the environment. Essentially, this means ease on the designer’s desktop, fewer aches and pains at precasting and the construction site, and a smaller environmental footprint,” Matiasko says.
Indeed, smaller cross-sections and a smaller amount of steel mean less concrete used and bigger CO2 reductions. Moreover, having more products fit in one delivery positively impacts costs and emissions.
© Peikko Group Corporation
Cloud-based software develops the design process
Peikko Designer® software’s BOLTED CONNECTION now offers a user-friendly web interface and a powerful and flexible cloud calculation engine. Only an internet connection is needed for its use – no installations or downloads are needed. The software is also free to use.
The new tool gives users more freedom. It enables the reliable and standardized design of architectural shapes that deviate from the mainstream, such as designing column shoes for columns of all shapes.
“Peikko Designer® BOLTED CONNECTION keeps on evolving based on our customer needs, and recently, for example, long bolts and design fire scenarios were added to the software. We will continue developing the cloud-based software for other Peikko solutions as well,” Slavomir Matiasko says.
