Chinese Scaffold Planks Fail

TimNJ

Anybody get the new issue of Tools Of The Trade? Article on page 13 warns of imported scaffold planks from China failing safety tests.
Taken from www.apawood.org "Imported Chinese LVL Scaffold Plank"

mickeyco

It's sad to watch China slowly kill this country, and Americans letting them to save a few dollars. Wonder what gas would cost if China wasn't using so much to build and ship the crap we use in this country which ends up in a landfill rather quickly because of its quality. Ah, what the hell, it's worth it for $25 DVD players.


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TimNJ

Between the earthquakes and other natural disasters plus all the pollution that the new industrial China is spewing out all over its own population I wonder if they will ultimately wipe themselves out first.

concretemasonry

The construction process in China is different than the U.S., so they could easily be cheap planks made for Chinese construction. Not to defend the Chinese, but what did the buyer buy/use?

In China, multistory buildings are the norm and the scaffolding is in place from initial construction to the final finish (exterior, stucco, brick, etc.). It is also covered (safety and weather) to permit 24 hour construction (if necessary). Because of this, the scaffolding spacing is less and the planks are designed accordingly for the shorter spans.

The comforting factor may be that the wood may have been from the U.S. since China imports lumber (U.S., Russia, SE Asia) and uses relatively little lumber in construction because of internal eclogical reasons. Few buildings (residential or commercial) use much wood. The lumber may be processed into planks (if reinforced) and shipped back. The plank could easily be made to higher standards if the buyer cared.

The link/article makes for good reading.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

mickeyco

Maybe it collapse because it was built for skinny Chinese folk and not the more robust Americans.

You buy something with a Made In China sticker on it you're taking your chances, chances are it's a piece of junk.

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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

Tscarborough

Actually, Mickeyco, if you buy cheap ass junk, it is cheap ass junk no matter where it is made.

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MALCO.New.York

What is happening with China is part of the plan. China has THE MOST SIGNIFICANT reserves of Oil, Gold, Coal, Timber of all the industrialized Nations. The American Machine, Tri-Laterally aligned, is gonna get to those reserves someday.

The biggest concern with the Nat. Resources is accessibility. Same goes for Eastern Russia.

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Ultimate Wisdom---------
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concretemasonry

MALCO -

Go back to school.

According to the CIA reports on China - China does NOT have a large supply of wood or timber - that is why they import wood from other countries. Russia has a large supply, but it is too far from developed areas and people in Russia do not want to live in wood structures. China does have a large amount of coal, but it is low quality and that coupled with the inefficient power plants and some old factories is the reason for the air polution. Imported fuel for plants is another reason for the world-wide fuel/energy problem. The new freeways and additional demand for cars will only increase the demand for petroleum in China.

China is a large, rugged, undeveloped country. Only less than 15% of the country is arible for use by crops and much is along the rivers where the population density and value is high. The rest is mostly either dry or rock or both.

An an example, China developed a policy about 10 years ago dramatically reduce the use of brick for construction in lieu of concrete materials. Wood was obviously not an option. The land the brick raw material (clay) is on is too valuable for agriculture and the pollution was determined to be detrimental. China uses about 560,000,000,000 (560 billion) brick per years and many cities use more than the total U.S. annual brick production, so the process is just getting going.

China does have a lot of people and some resources that are valuable, but hard to get at. - You are correct on that. If they can build the Three Gorges Dam and relocate the millions and millions of people, they will eventually get to them and use them. They can also make items cheap to meet the standards of the retailers and ultimate uses.

They only export what people will buy, unless it is a high quality, specialized labor-intensive product, like violins, etc.

Todays China is not what everyone thinks it is. In my 5 or 6 trips, I thnk I saw more more Rolls Royces than hand pulled rickshaws. In a large city it is not uncommon to see 6 or 8 lanes of imported cars (Mercedes, BMW, etc.) bumper to bumper at 10:00 to 12:00 PM and surrounded by chrome and glass stores that are still open. They have great pizza, but the chinese food takes time to understand, since it is not like our chinese food.

__________________
Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

MALCO.New.York

Maybe you!


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_5438406.htm

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

nywoodwizard

You trying to say we are a little on the chubby side? you're right i know i am.

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oldrivers

ive heard that china only has 3 x 5 sheets of drywall and plywood so its not unconceivable that they build things lighter. I know when i used to hang drywall two of us 400+ lbs , sheet of drywall 100+ lbs on a osha approved plank that thing would flex alot. I like the old days were you could build your own planks using 2x6s and 5/8ths plywood screwed and glued together 14 feet long 2 feet wide and they wouldnt flex hardly at all but osha says no cant do it anymore. and when you were done with it just throw it in the dumpster . 20.00 bucks versus 200 dollar pieces of flimsy crap .

Rockhound

isnt it funny how safety regs have made it much more UNSAFE?? such as requiring safety chains around a scaffold? how the hell is it safer to step over and/or pass sheets over a chain? and drywall benches are on the verge of being outlawed?!? we use the new laminated beams as planks these days...barely any flex at all under our 400+, and we rarely use anything other than actual scaffold picks on scaffold

JonM

I always thought they used Bamboo Scaffolding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5yTv...eature=related

EIFS101

I always thought they had special levitating powers.

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