10k Forklift on plywood calculation

[Gasma]

Hi,

I have a concrete pit (44'' deep x 11 feet wide) I must cover it (temporarily) so a forklift can pass over it. I want to use a wood stud wall and plywood. How do you calculate the span and thickness of the plywood needed for a 10k front load forklift ?

Thx

Gasma

 

[Aesur]

Are you the engineer on the project?

You will need to calculate the wheel loading for the maximum loaded forklift and then check the studs and plywood. I'm not sure I have ever seen this done, but would expect you would be almost filling the entire hole with wood studs to make this calculate out as I'm not sure plywood would have capacity for such loading at any reasonable stud wall spacing. Not to mention the moving load may cause lateral movements in the structure which need to be accounted for as well. IMO your best bet is to not use wood.

 

[robyengIT]

Steve Jobs said "stay foolish" but not in this meaning !

 

[rowingengineer]

Make sure you check punching of the ply, ply has good bending strength by shear strength is limited.

Personally I would use a steel plate and steel props rated.

 

[jjl317]

APA has (had?) at least two documents that address wheel/caster loads on plywood. Form X227B addresses "Caster Loadings on Plywood" (my hard copy is from 1999), and research report 139 - "Plywood Floors for Residential Garages" (my hard copy is from 1980). I did a quick search online and didn't find them, which makes me question if they pulled support of these two documents.

I remember investigating this in the past, and from memory, we ended up renting the large steel plates used similar conditions for street work, in part because of the answers we got from trying to justify the plywood.

The only other option that occurs to me is plywood over continuous 2x lumber flat as sleepers, at then the plywood would be continuously supported, with the localized wheel load distributed over a larger area. And if the plywood is taking a beating (not sure the number of times the forklift has to drive over the opening), you can replace relatively easily.

Hope this helps

 

[LittleInch]

Fill the pit with concrete blocks instead?.

Plywood just sounds nuts.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Lomarandil]

If the forklift will be crossing the span while loaded, be sure to check as though 90% or more of the total weight is carried in the front two wheels.

----
just call me Lo.

 

[Gasma]

You are right, plywood is not possible !

 

[MotorCity]

Just as important as the material used (steel I hope), is making sure that you restrain or secure the cover unless it extends a good distance from the edge of the pit. The wheels or forks of the forktruck could catch the edge of the cover and push it into the pit