Stud welding: fast and economically very interesting 

Stud welding or bolt welding, while a small part of an infrastructure project, is essential for the bond between steel and concrete. Yet it is often not included in the big picture, at least not in the planning. Then it's nice to know that a party like KSM Studwelding is so flexible that they can always find an opportunity to help you out. Just like on the A16 Rotterdam.

KSM Studwelding is the only company in the Netherlands dedicated entirely to stud welding. "It is a welding process in which a head stud, threaded rod or threaded bushing is welded to a sheet pile or tubular pole using a gun in a millisecond," says Peter de Witte, manager of operations at KSM Studwelding. "This fully automatic technique is much stronger, faster and therefore less expensive than more conventional fastening methods. On the A16 Rotterdam, for De Groene Boog, we welded a fair number of 16 mm pin dowels in tubular piles and on sheet piling in lengths ranging from 100 to 250 mm in several phases."

Pressure

The pin dowel is used particularly for steel-concrete connections. "Stud dowelling is not a big part of a project, but there is often a lot of pressure. It almost always has to be done 'in between'. This is not a problem for us, because we are on the road daily with several buses and do stud welding full-time at shipyards and on projects in the construction and infrastructure sector," says Peter. "We can scale up and down relatively easily and thus respond to ad hoc situations. We then arrive more or less self-sufficient, so the contractor doesn't have to worry about this. It's taken care of. That's where our strength lies and that's what we're good at."

KSM Studwelding is VCA certified. "Our welders are also broadly certified to perform stud welding work of all degrees. This combined with the broad and long-standing experience of our employees means that we are involved in virtually all major construction and infrastructure projects, such as here on the A16 Rotterdam but also, for example, on Project Levvel, at data centers, in bridge construction and at just about all shipyards."