The Swedish Steel Prize is an international accolade aimed at highlighting innovative designs for which high strength steel is used. The Prize was founded by SSAB Tunnplåt and is awarded this year for the ninth time. Over the years, a total of around 500 designs from all corners of the world have been appraised by the competition jury.
”The clear trend is towards growing use of high strength steels, and designers are becoming increasingly adept at using the various opportunities offered by the steels,” explains Göran Carlsson, Chairman of the jury and Executive Vice President of SSAB. ”Baryval Serviplem, this year’s winner, has demonstrated this aptitude. The company has produced a design that may be of importance around the world. The new semitrailer can carry more load, is more profitable, is safer on the road, contributes to fewer transport trips and more efficient construction sites, and thereby reduced emissions.”
The Baryval Serviplem semitrailer with concrete mixer is made of high strength steel and is therefore almost 2 tonnes lighter. The weight saving has been achieved by the thinner material and a better design that was made possible due to the material used. The lower weight of the vehicle has enabled the load-carrying capacity to be increased correspondingly i.e. about 2 tonnes or 20 percent.
The other finalists who have been awarded runner-up prizes in the competition are:
- Dura Post from Australia that has developed a new, maintenance-free guide post.
- Liotard in cooperation with ArcelorMittal, both from France, for a new gas cylinder.
- Vossloh España for the development of a new locomotive for the transport of goods.
