Everyone admires the huge buildings touching skies, big stages set up at night. This admiration takes a lot of hard work behind it. And the key element aiding this to happen are scaffolds.
Scaffolds are big frames made of tubes or sticks joined together around a building or a manmade structure for the ease to reach elevate, high and vulnerable areas. These are generally used for maintenance, construction of buildings, bridges, etc., and for making big sages or platforms.
It plays a very significant role in the construction industry where tall buildings and structures are aided by Scaffolding Bromley .
Why one need scaffolding
- Access – The higher rise the building the less is access for a worker. Here comes the role of scaffolds which provides access to elevated areas of the building, reduces the struggle of workers and gives them the flexibility to work. With developing days, scaffolding has become more safe and convenient to use.
- Position– Scaffolding not only allows you to reach high areas but also lets the person sit and stand where he/she is working. Imagine working with a ladder or a hanging swing. Scaffold makes it easy.
- Efficiency– Working on a scaffold increases the efficiency of a worker being in a peaceful mind. This is obvious that a worker with fear about his/her life would be less efficient and able to give less output.
Let’s jump to see elements of the scaffold.
Three key elements of the scaffold are standard, ledger and transoms.
- Standard – Every element of scaffold is important, and it can prove to be harmful even without a small part but the standard is the main part. It is most essential as it carries the entire load and transfers it to the ground preventing the bending or breaking of the scaffold. Standards rest on the base plate which is spread on the ground. The base plate helps to distribute the weight evenly to the ground otherwise the standards would start to sink in the ground.
- Ledger – These are tubes placed horizontally to connect standards to each other. These help to keep the standards in place.
- Transoms – These are placed such that they are perpendicular to both ledgers and standards. They are bifurcated as main transoms and intermediate transoms. Main transoms lie between standards while intermediate transom lie between main transoms to support them
- Braces – Braces are placed in a diagonal way ledger to ledger such that to increase support.
- Couplers – These are fittings joints between every bar and sticks.
All the elements combined to form a complex three-dimensional network to provide a strong and rigid structure. There are different standard sizes to all these elements such that they are useful for every structure and building.
Apart from this mechanical stuff, the process of scaffolding was started with bamboo sticks and ropes. This method is still prevailing in few countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China etc. Most of the countries have shifted to the use of metal or composite tubes. This was done to ensure safety of the workers. In recent times, many people have been injured and died while working on scaffolds and this fear led to the invention of stronger substitutes for bamboo sticks.