A liquid-vapor contact column is packed with at least one layer formed of a plurality of structured packing sheets orientated to provide liquid-vapor contact in the axial direction of the column and arranged so that, viewed in the axial direction of the column, packing sheets in the body of the layer are in one or more sections in which at least one band surrounds a central core, said band being formed of segments in which the packing sheets in each segment extend rectilinearly in a different direction to those in the adjacent segments in the same band. The packing sheets in the body of the or each layer can be arranged in a plurality of abutting sections or in a single section.