We were at an industrial plant in Ohio a few weeks ago to look at an existing overhead crane rail system that the client was looking to upgrade. The plan was to simply replace the existing crane rails with new ones that would run smoother. We were called in at the request of the installer of the new system, who wanted an independent structural evaluation of the area where the new crane rails would be installed. At first glance, it seemed like a very simple structural evaluation. It became a lot less simple as we started to look at the existing crane rail and how it was installed years ago when the building was constructed.
As we got deeper into the inspection, it became obvious that the old crane rail system had been connected to the building structure in some questionable ways. The existing system had not failed, nor had it caused the building structure to fail. However, the install of a new system that carries different loads certainly could cause failure not only to the crane rail, but to the building itself.
PDMi’s structural evaluation was able to identify several areas that needed to be structurally enhanced in order to carry the load of the new crane rail system. As it turns out, making the call to PDMi to do a simple evaluation of the structure may have saved the building owner thousands of dollars in future structural damage, not to mention the headache it would cause.
This is one of many instances over the years that PDMi has been called in and Value was Added to a project. If we can be of help on your next project, give us a call.