What is the most common component utilised in the construction industry today? As soon as this particular question was presented to a large group of people recently, most of the people who were not involved in the industry struggled to think of a reply. But if you mentioned the key clamp you would not be too far away from the truth of the matter. What is a key clamp? It’s employed in so many areas that we most likely neglect its existence. Without this, though, we may not be able to access buildings and other structures, store and keep different items, go shopping in a regular home improvement warehouse, use our motor vehicles, illuminate our own world or even play around a playground.

The modest key clamp is made of sturdy metal elements. Usually, because of the specific demands and prerequisites they are created from cast iron in accordance with a specific process and in accordance with a certain design. Fundamentally, the actual clamp itself is a metal housing within which a tube or pipe assembly, for instance handrails, will sit. The actual clamp is, consequently, essentially utilised to join various other elements or components together to establish a solid framework. Whenever you view a railing or a fence look closely and you will discover these specific clamps in use to hold almost everything together and also to ensure it is sturdy.

Whenever you look closely at it you will find that these clamps are to be seen almost everywhere. They are not only basically made to connect in a straight line. Any elbow joint, for example, functions as a corner element, even while other styles could be made to link a variety of components at one go. These kinds of specialised pipe clamps are featured in virtually any industrial construction you can possibly imagine. For instance, when you go into that home improvement warehouse the very next time you will see that it wouldn’t be possible to exhibit the thousands of items effectively and productively without having all those complicated shelving structures, all held in concert with these specific clamps.

Isn’t it amazing what we tend to take for granted inside our marvellously intricate world? Without such a humble creation as the clamp we simply wouldn’t be able to go about our everyday lives in the productive way in which we all do. The person who conceived these practical items seems to be lost in the mists of time, however in relation to a contribution to the present day world they simply can’t be overestimated. So, could we improve on the original design and come up with something which could be all the more contributory to modern society? Maybe it is time for that inventor within you to turn to your drawing board, to find out what can be done!

Hillside Scaffolding by Pat Thompson

Let’s say for instance you have a house located on the side of a hill and you have to set scaffolding up next to it to place siding, soffit and fascia, and rain gutter on the house. My special scaffolding accessory is the perfect solution to the hillside problem. Designed to fit up to a 1.5 to 1 slope, my scaffold accessory will fit almost any slope you will run in to. And after being placed it provides a nice level means of erecting the rest of the scaffolding needed for this project.

How it works is when it is used in combination with screw jacks, it provides a longer leg for the width of your scaffolding that is stable, adjustable to different slope conditions, and very easy to set up.

Imagine your home being situated on a hillside, and then imagine a level surface following a wall that would be great for setting up scaffolding on. Now take away the level surface and you are left with what? Two legs, or maybe just one leg of you scaffolding is on the ground and would normally have place cribbing up from the ground to those legs that are not in contact with the ground.

My special scaffold accessory takes all that cribbing away making a quick, sturdy, and safe base to set the remaining scaffolding on. The 1.5 to 1 ratio combined with the screw jacks let you be very flexible as far as being able to set it on most slopes you’ll encounter. It has basic wing nut and brace supports, just as your standard scaffolding has and is compatible with Biljax Heavy Duty Scaffolding.

These special hillside scaffold accessories can also be used in areas where there is a wall or a step on the surface where the scaffolding needs to be placed. When used in combination with leveling jacks the height of this basic unit can be adjusted to put one leg on the wall or step, and the other leg on the ground, and you will be able to do it quickly and safely.

Setting up scaffolding on a severe slope the old fashion way placing cribbing underneath the one side.

Say you set a section of scaffolding up and by the time you get up to the work you are going to work on and you realize the scaffolding needs to be moved 2 more feet in the one direction to work the best. Now you got to tear down and move all that bulky cribbing and stack it again. With my special scaffolding accessory its as easy as just sliding it over the two feet and leveling the screw jacks.

When placing cribbing for a lot of scaffolding, it takes many truck loads of cribbing that you must handle. How many times on this project will you have to handle that stuff. Not much use for cribbing material for anything else except cribbing. And its heavy and bulky. And when you are finally done with it on this project, you will have to load it back up and haul it away. After all you will need the cribbing material on your next scaffold job that’s on a hillside. And by the time you need it again some of it will have gotten rotten.

With my special hillside scaffolding accessory, you’ll enjoy using it time and time again and you will be able to easily store it with the rest of your scaffolding items. But best of all you will never dread setting scaffolding up on a sloped surface again.

For more information, please leave a comment on this site.

For more visual details, see the previous article with pictures showing my special scaffolding accessories. The special scaffold accessory is always used as the bottom section of scaffolding.

Construction Scaffolding Safety

Construction scaffolding is one way of placing the worker close to the building that they are working on. Just like other construction equipment, scaffolding must be inspected and maintained on a daily basis. OSHA requires that someone specifically trained for the job must erect any type of scaffolding.

Once your equipment is erected, it should not be taken apart and moved except by the same-trained personnel. It must have guardrails and midrails so that a worker cannot tumble out. It must have planks that are sitting tightly next to each other, and must be made of quality planking material. It must be stable and strong so when people walk across it you are confident that it will hold. It must be erected 10 or more feet from all electrical lines.

Construction workers should be well-trained before stepping on the construction scaffolding, and taught how to inspect it. Generally, the supervisor will inspect it at the beginning of his shift before any worker is allowed to use it. The scaffolding itself should be structurally sound, and the supervisor should make sure that all the fasteners are tight, and the rigging is safe. After the initial inspection at the start of the shift, it should be reinspected during lunch break and at the end of your shift.

You should be able to get to the construction scaffolding via stairwells or special ladders made for that purpose. No one should ever climb up the sides of this equipment because this is an unsafe practice. It is imperative to go by all safety regulations when operating any piece of construction equipment. Construction is one of the top ten most hazardous jobs that you can have today. Keeping yourself and your crew safe at all, times should be your number one concern. You do not want any accidents on the job site because of faulty equipment.