Mounting equipment overhead

[blackwed]

Take a 6’ piece of 1” sch 40 pipe. Drill a hole thru one wall about 1 or 2 inches from each end. Stick a piece of 3/8 all thread in each hole and put on a washer and nut (inside the pipe). Connect the other end of the all thread to some uni-strut clamped over two steel beams in the overhead then mount 6 lights, each weighing about 20 lb, on the pipe. Assume that eventually someone weighing around 180 lb is on a 20’ ladder re-aiming said lights and loses his balance with this gizmo the only thing to grab hold of. Is this picture as ugly as I want to paint it? Just looking for some real engineering data to present to our “awww, that’ll never fall” contractor.

 

[ERV]

PVC pipe is rated for bursting strength (e.g. 1120, sch 40, sch 80) and has no structural strength to speak of. I doubt it would survive the 6-20lb point loads! This situation is dangerous and certainly does not meet any building codes (no way to ascertain structural integrity of the member).

 

[blackwed]

It is galvanized steel pipe not PVC.
Thanks,
DB

 

[ERV]

Sorry, I assumed it was PVC. The connections should be welded and should be at least as strong as the pipe itself.

 

[ERV]

Building codes require that, in addition to the dead load, a live load of 250 lbs anywhere along the pipe and in any direction must be resisted (or capable of supporting). That means that each connection must be capable of resisting a 320 lb load (1/2 DL and LL). Drilling through this pipe can seriously affect its shear capacity due to an allready small cross section.
I advise having a local structural engineer look at this and advise accordingly.