Walkways

Designing an Efficient and Movable Walkway for Trench Safety

The client is one of the largest manufacturers of trench safety products in the USA. They provide shoring and trench safety equipment like trench boxes, shoring systems, hydraulic shores, and other solutions that prevent soil collapse and ensure worker safety and stability during excavation and construction activities.

Scope

The client sought our design support for their product series, which included walkways, trench shields, manhole systems, and other shoring products. They needed continuous development, modifications and improvisations in their designs.

The client also needed support for material changes for walkway platforms and approach platforms, from Mild Steel to Aluminum Alloy, considering all load factors, manufacturing processes and materials as per the ANSI/ASTM standards.

The scope of project included:

Designing walkways, which are temporary platforms or paths that provide safe passage over trenches, excavation sites, hazardous areas, allowing workers and pedestrians to cross safely.
Ensuring the new walkway is lightweight for easy handling and installation, strong enough to support required loads, and resilient to sudden impacts, prioritizing safety at all times.
Providing support for trench shields design to ensure stability of trenches and workers’ safety.

Walkways and trenches are made of steel and aluminum depending on the site's requirements and load-bearing needs.

Challenge

The key challenges while designing a huge walkway structure were significant. These included:

Heavy Structural Design Complexity: Designing a walkway and other shoring products to meet complex structural needs, especially for excavation sites while adhering to strict safety standards.
Material Optimization: Changing the walkway material from mild steel (MS) to aluminum alloy, while ensuring the design met load-bearing requirements and manufacturing standards.
Compliance with Standards: Ensuring the walkway design adheres to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards and incorporates safety features like handrails, toe plates, and ladder fall protection.
Adaptability across Geographical Standards: Ensuring the designs met safety and regulatory standards in the USA and Canada. Then, we also needed to modify the designs to comply with Australia's regulations to ensure the client could use it across all the regions.

Solution

Leveraging years of industry experience, Sedin’s expert design engineers provided the client with comprehensive support at every stage of the project. We began by gathering critical information about the walkaway and trench shield size, depth, soil conditions, and any environmental factors that could impact the design.

We also reviewed relevant safety standards to ensure compliance with load bearing, structural integrity, and fall protection requirements.

With a clear understanding of the client’s requirements, our design team quickly moved to initial design work.

Detailed Structural Design

We began by performing load calculations to ensure the aluminum walkway could replace the previously used mild steel without compromising strength or safety. 6061-T6 aluminum alloy, with a yield strength of 282.68 MPa, was chosen for its lightweight and high-strength properties.
Using SolidWorks, we created a detailed 3D model of the walkway, approach platform, and ramp assembly. We ensured the design met ASCE standards, supporting a minimum live load of 60 PSF (2.87 kN/m²), with a minimum factor of safety of1.5 to account for load variations.
The design process included selecting the optimal material thickness and ensuring proper assembly. The total weight of the walkway and approach platforms was calculated to be 845.9 lbs (383.69 kg).
Safety features like handrails, toe plates, and fall protection (per OSHA standards) were integrated in the design to safeguard worker safety during excavation.

Design Validation and Review

We used SolidWorks simulations to validate the walkway design against live loads, bending stress, and impact forces. The simulations confirmed that the design met safety and regulatory standards, while being lightweight, easy to handle, and strong enough for its intended use.
We presented the CAD model to the client and incorporated their feedback and made necessary adjustments.
Before delivering the final designs, we conducted thorough quality checks. New assemblies were verified using DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) techniques.
The walkway structure was also assessed with DFMEA (Design for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) to ensure it met all the functional and safety requirements.

From design to delivery, Sedin’s team provided a fast and reliable solution with expert engineering and a focus on safety and performance. Our efficient structural design solutions provided the client with a precise and high-quality walkaway design ready for seamless manufacturing and installation.

walkway-design-for-trench-safety

Value and Benefits

Sedin's innovative design optimizations (like material savings, hardware reductions, alternative material suggestions) resulted in reduced production costs and increased efficiency for the client.

Consistent on-time delivery of high-quality, well-optimized designs enabled the client to launch products on time, improving their market responsiveness and reliability.

We created universally adaptable designs conforming to various geographical standards. This allowed the client to use these solutions across the USA, Canada, and Australia, streamlining production and distribution

The designs aligned with necessary safety standards, ensuring worker safety at excavation sites and reducing the risk of on-site incidents.