Access Ladders, Platforms and Walkways
Occupational Workplace Safety Laws throughout Australia limit or prevent the use of ladders for working devices when servicing cooling towers.
Working at heights and attempting to eliminate falls from cooling towers can be controlled through the use of ladders platforms and hand railing around the top of the cooling tower.
We design and install custom made hot dipped galvanized, aluminium, timber, and stainless steel or Fibreglass access systems to AS1657. Vertical ladders are caged; with standard ladders at 75 Deg slope and caged if falls can take place beyond 6m. Emergency escape ladders are also available as can be seen in this photo.
Main
access for cooling towers is to service the following areas;
- Inlet louvres
- Float valves
- Isolation valves
- PVC Fill removal
- Eliminator removal
- Access doors
- Fan motor
Existing Access platforms and staircases provide vital easy access to the fan deck and mechanical operations of the Cooling Tower. These staircases must be kept in good condition. Most staircases are constructed from timber and in harsh dry conditions the timber can dry out, shrink, bolts become loose and movement occurs. This can cause treads to come loose and eventually fall out potentially when a person is walking on the stairs thus causing an extreme safety hazard. CTMS can rebuild the staircase and make good. We also offer a full replacement package, where by the existing unsafe staircase is removed and a new one is supplied and installed, manufactured from either, Mild Steel Hot Dipped Galvanized, Stainless Steel, Aluminium or pultruded Fibreglass.
As shown in the staircase examples, fan decks
are probably even more prone to shrinkage and de-lamination. Wet down systems
in certain cases increase the problem. Fan decks are traditionally manufactured
from ply or tongue and groove boards. With the harsh dry conditions, these
decks often crack, split, warp and delaminate. CTMS can either refurbish or
replace the deck. In the case of ply decks the top delaminated layer can be
scab bled to remove the loose laminate. The ply is then coated with a thick rubber
membrane to stop the delaminating process. As an option the existing deck can
be removed and replaced with new timber product, ensuring a seal coat is
applied from new, or as we often suggest in harsh conditions, replace the deck
with a fibreglass deck. The initial cost is around 50% more than timber,
however the life of the FRP, no maintenance, no swelling or shrinkage less
weight on the existing structure, is a major advantage.