Concrete pumps used in the construction of tall buildings need a boom structure that is strong and reliable while also striving for light weight. Turkish concrete pump manufacturer Betonstar has met these requirements by using only Strenx® performance steel throughout its structures. The result is longer, stronger and lighter products.

Erol Yıldız, factory manager at Betonstar, is involved in day-to-day production, and he is very familiar with the benefits of high-strength steel from SSAB.

“In our products, we have to provide the smallest possible weight combined with the highest possible safety,” he says. “Workers need to be safe when operating these products. We can only achieve this with SSAB steel products. We use Strenx in all steel structures of the concrete pumps.”

The company started out using Strenx® 700 steel and then moved on to Strenx® 900 steel for longer products that needed to reach higher.

“Our concrete pumps are mounted on the customer’s trucks, and the fact that the pumps weigh less provides many advantages, such as less fuel consumption, the possibility of purchasing trucks with a shorter wheelbase and pouring concrete using less fuel – and, of course, less fuel consumption when driving the lighter truck,” Yıldız says.

Betonstar specializes in truck-mounted concrete pumps, but it also makes stationary pumps and spider-type concrete distributors. The truck-mounted concrete pumps can reach between 20 and 58 meters (66 to 190 feet).

“Pumps that reach over 50 meters [164 feet] are in a special class,” says Selim Alver, R&D manager at Betonstar. “To manufacture those, we require special engineering and materials, and that is why we need Strenx steel.”

Thanks to the high-strength steel, Betonstar has been able to use a special, lighter design for the longer booms, which adds customer value.

“We have great design flexibility thanks to Strenx,” he says. “For our latest 52-meter pump model, we could switch from five foldable booms to six foldable booms. It led to a lighter pump, and we decreased the weight from 41 to 39 tons. This is very important for the end user because we were able to mount the pump on a 12-meter vehicle that does not require a special permit to travel on the roads.”

Betonstar has been part of SSAB’s My Inner Strenx® customer program since 2016. Yıldız cherishes the close technical collaboration it brings.

“Our My Inner Strenx membership helped us become a preferred company,” he says. “The membership denotes originality and quality to our customers.”