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EFFC/DFI Working Platforms Task Group

The EFFC/DFI Working Platforms Task Group pools the experiences across the membership of EFFC and DFI to collaborate on the critical issue of improving the safety of working platforms. Working platforms are used by everyone that accesses a site, particularly cranes and drilling machines.

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Group Chair

Peter Faust, Dipl.-Ing.
Malcolm Drilling Company, Inc.
pfaust@malcolmdrilling.com

Peter Faust has 30 years of professional experience in the design and construction of foundations. He graduated from Technical University Graz in Austria with a Masters in Geotechnical Engineering. After being involved in project management and engineering of large and complex infrastructure projects in Asia and Europe he did join Malcolm in 2006. He is responsible for business development, strategic planning, and managing corporate communications, and marketing. He serves as DFI’s Trustee and has also contributed to the efforts of EFFC and DFI publishing a series of 3 guidelines about Tremie Concrete, Support Fluid and Working Platforms for Deep Foundations.

Guide to Working Platforms

On a typical construction site, the provision of a safe surface to work on involves and affects a number of the contracting parties (the client; principal designer; general contractor; specialty contractor; platform designer; platform installer or earthworks contractor; platform tester and platform maintainer), and as a consequence, the organization of its design, installation and maintenance can be complex. This document takes each step in turn and describes what good practice is, with reference to documents and resources that have been made available through the EFFC and DFI.

A current initiative of this task group is to update this guide with leading research into which methods of design and verification are the most appropriate to use. It is also hoped that better guidance regarding applicable track pressure can be developed. These results shall enable us to provide better guidance on how to minimize the risk of a failure in the working platform. If you wish to participate in this effort, please contact DFI or the Group Chair directly.

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Field Research Study (FRS) #1

Verifying the quality of the platform is difficult and can be expensive to carry out. To understand the best methods for testing and seek a practical solution to this problem EFFC and DFI have created a program of comparative assessment of different testing techniques. This is being carried out in the US and Europe at several sites. The aim is to find a cost-effective and simple way to assess whether a working platform is fit for purpose before and during the works. Please contact the Group Chair if you are interested to participate.

View the November 2023 Updates on FRS #1 here.

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Field Research Study (FRS) #2

Most manufacturers provide track pressure values following the requirements of EN 16228. However, the actual pressures exerted during the operation of the rig may be different as this is dependent on the configuration of the machine and the site conditions. Recognizing that there may be significant variation in loading applied by nominally similar rigs due to manufacturing variations, user modifications and nature of operation, each contractor should provide the platform designer with the operational track pressure and load areas for a project.

This is a bit of a challenging task, which leads to the purpose for Field Research Study (FRS) #2: to provide a more user-friendly summary of applicable track pressures that owners, consultants, designers, general contractors, as well as specialty contractors, can use to estimate track pressure, for at least a preliminary evaluation. The attached table is a first draft in this effort. The Task Group welcomes your comments on this draft, which you can provide by emailing the Group Chair.

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Field Research Study (FRS) #3

How can we ensure different working platform design methods produce more consistent results? Even using the same base data sets can produce widely varying results. Therefore, we are developing a research proposal to perform a sensitivity analysis on input parameters for the design methods. The intention is to reduce the current variance in thickness to a tighter, more consistent range, regardless of design method, by identifying the most influential parameters. It is not the intention of the Task Group to recommend any particular design method. Rather the Task Group aims to improve the process so that better understood parameters are used in platform design, and once it is constructed, the design assumptions can be properly tested before and during use. The group is in discussion with the University of Stuttgart, Germany to build on research they have already undertaken on platform design.

View the November 2023 Update on FRS #3

Additional Resources