Warehouse Floor Load Bearing Capacity

In the construction and logistics world all too often statements are made like.

Warehouse floor load bearing capacity. When loading a floor with tons of equipment the actual capacity per square foot must be known in advance. For example a floor joist at 16 spacing s that can carry 53 pounds per linear foot would translate into a 318 pound single point load at its center. This floor has a bearing capacity of two tons per square meter. The pallets generate point loads on the floor via the beams frames and the uprights.

Floor surfaces on which this equipment operates are typically flat and level. Increasing the total weight on the floor to 4 480 pounds however results in a live load of 40 psf which is beyond the floor s load capacity. Small and hard wheel contact surface generate high local pressure on the floor surface. If it is non specific human occupancy for example it is assumed that a nominal load is applied to the floor and the only criterion is the need to create a relatively flat surface that rests on the.

Simply a floor slab functions to distribute without deformation or cracking the loads applied to it to the weaker sub grade below in the case of a ground bearing slab or to the piles supporting it if designed as a suspended ground slab and to provide a suitable wearing surface upon which the operations in the facility may be carried out. Typical vehicle operating at floor level is a pallet transporter hand truck or trailer often having maximum 3 tons capacity and small load carrying polyurethane wheels. A uniform load rating on a beam can easily be translated into what an equivalent maximum point load can be. It is expressed as pounds per square foot.

Floor load capacity is the total maximum weight a floor is engineered to support over a given area. Floors are engineered to carry a maximum static load and a maximum dynamic load that can t be exceeded without the risk of compromise to the structure. With an evenly distributed live load of 30 psf which the tables show the floor is able to support the total weight on the floor would be about 3 360 pounds. The typical floor is often half foot thick concrete and has a capacity of 25 000 pounds.