Fiberglass Grating Catwalks

When designing Catwalks in corrosive environments such as chemical plants and waste-water treatment plants, Fiberglass Grating Walkways  are a long-lasting, cost-effective alternative to steel or aluminum.

At National Grating we specialize in all types of molded and pultruded FRP grating. Molded grating Catwalks are typically a lower price than pultruded Catwalks. The most common molded grating panel sizes are 3 x 10, 4 x 8 and 4 x 12.

Call us at 1-877-984-5421 and we will help you select the panel sizes with the best yield depending on the length and width of the Catwalk.

Molded grating panels are 1″, 1-12″, or 2″ thick. The farther the supports are apart underneath the grating, the stronger the grating required. Most of the molded grating we have in stock is Dark Gray and Yellow. We also have light gray, green, and orange for some profiles.

Check out our Grating Selection Chart to see which type of grating will best fit your application.

Molded grating consists of a series of 1.5″ squares in a checkerboard pattern. If you need more surface area for your Catwalk, or you need a stronger grating to span a wider Catwalk, you made need pultruded grating.

Pultruded Grating consists of a series of parallel bearing bars separated by cross-rods spaced every 6″. Unlike molded grating, pultruded grating is only strong in the direction of the bearing bars. The cross-rods do not provide any support whatsoever. They are only used to keep the bearing bars parallel to each other.

FRP Stair treads typically have a nosing on the leading edge to strength the stair tread and minimize any tripping hazard. You will also see the nosing at the beginning of the Catwalk as well.

You can either order our FRP grating cut to size at our warehouse, or you can order full panels and cut to size yourself. Check out our video on How to Cut FRP Grating.

Fiberglass Grating San Francisco

FRP Platform in San Francisco Bay

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a US Govt agency located in the Dept. of Commerce. Their office is responsible for gathering the data used to produce the tide prediction tables.

The Fiberglass platform you see here was fabricated by Southwell Corp in Burnaby, B.C. Canada, just north of Seattle, WA. The supports are made from 8″ x 2-3/16″ x 3/8″ C-Channel with two 4’ x 8’ sheets of 1-1/2” Molded Grating. All the holes for the stainless steel hardware were pre-drilled, so when NOAA received the deck pieces they were able to easily assemble the frame themselves.

This location is in the south San Francisco Bay was requested by a group of local and federal agencies involved in restoration of the shoreline. Old salt ponds are having their levees breached and the land inside is being re-graded to recreate the original shoreline topography.

Read more at San Francisco FRP Platform.

How to Cut Fiberglass FRP Grating

How to Cut FRP Grating

Cutting FRP Grating is easy if you do it right. You can use the same saws used for cutting wood, to cut FRP. They key is to use a diamond tip blade. If you try to use a regular blade to cut fiberglass grating, it will dull very quickly. This video from Fiberman, shoes how to cut FRP Grating safely.



The safety tips are very important. When cutting FRP, you should saw a little slower that you would normally cut wood. If you try to cut too fast, the saw blade might get jammed. There will be quite a bit of fiberglass dust, so be sure to use a mask with a proper fiberglass filter. If you don’t have a ventilation system, a fan will help direct the dust away from you.

You can cut curves and angles in fiberglass grating the same way. You can use a reciprocating saw or a jig-saw. Again, the key is to use a diamond-tip blade.

Whenever you cut FRP, you’ve got to re-seal it with polyurethane. You can pick up a can of polyurethane spray at any paint store.

So, the next time you buy Fiberglass Grating from National Grating, you can either order it cut to size, or order full panels and do the cutting yourself. Call 1-877-984-7788 for a competitive price quote.

What is FRP Grating?

What is FRP Grating ?

This Slide show does a great job explaining what FRP Grating is, and what FRP Grating can do. Plenty of photos of FRP Grating installations. 

FRP Grating is a strong, lightweight fiberglass building material used in all kinds of construction from bridges, to huge storage tanks, to children’s play structures.

FRP stands for Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic. One of the biggest advantages FRP Grating has over steel is that FRP simply WILL NOT RUST. That’s why you see a lot of FRP used around saltwater for docks, walkways, and hand rails. FRP Grating looks a lot like steel, so you may have seen FRP at a marina and not even know it.

Chlorine doesn’t hurt FRP either, so we use it in swimming pools and waterparks in to build stairs, railing, and drainage areas.

FRP Grating is no stranger to industrial facilities like potash mines, chemical plants and waste-water treatment plants.

We use it build platforms, walkways, stairs and ladders in corrosive environments where steel would rust away in no time.

Pound for Pound FRP is stronger than steel. It won’t corrode, rot, or conduct electricity. It can be formed into countless shapes and profiles from Beams to Angle to Fiberglass Grating.

Call National Grating at 1-877-984-7788 for your next FRP Grating Project.

 

FRP Grating Load Tables

How much Weight with FRP Grating Support?

Our FRP Load tables show you how much deflection you can expect for various spans. The load tables show the deflection for both concentrated and uniform loads. The greater the distance between supports (span), the more deflection your will have for any given weight.

Molded Grating Load Table: 1" Deep

Molded Grating 1" Load Table (Click to Enlarge)

Molded Grating Load Table: 1.5" Deep

Molded 1.5" Grating Load Table (Click to Enlarge)

Molded FRP grating is used in all kinds of applications where a strong, lightweight deck or walkway is require that will not rust. You typically see molded grating in corrosive environments such as chemical plants, pulp mills, and waste-water treatment plants.

As you can see from the load tables, molded grating can easily support a person walking - even a big guy, as long as you have the required span between your supports.

If your supports are 18" on center, 1" molded grating will have a deflection of 0.123" for a 300 lb uniform load and 0.131" for a 300 lb concentrated load. Most of our customers can live with this amount of deflection.

When your span gets up to 30", you may wish to consider going to the stronger 1.5" deep grating. 1.5" molded grating will have a deflection of 0.283" for a 300 lb uniform load and 0.181" for a 300 lb concentrated load.

For load tables on 2" molded grating and Pultruded FRP grating, call Fiberman at 1-877-984-7788 and we will be happy to send you the load tables.

FRP Grating in Children's Play Area

DISCOVERY CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
International Play. Las Vegas, NV

Earlier this year, Langley BC based International Play Co. designed and installed a 7 - story children’s play center at the Discovery Children's Museum in Las Vegas.

The platforms and stairs used T-1800 pultruted grating. The 53 triangular stairs were fabricated at the Southwell Corp facility in Burnaby, BC Canada and dropped into a metal frame onsite.

The 1.5” deep platforms were supplied in 4’ x 8’ panels with rectangular nosing along both 8’ sides, providing a child-safe connection between panels.




 All S.S. insert clips were installed under the grating where there is no contact with children’s feet. Cut-outs for water pipes were done on-site.

Molded FRP Grating Versus Pultruded Grating

We are often asked to explain the difference between Molded fiberglass grating and Pultruded fiberglass grating.

MOLDED FRP GRATING

• Molded Grating has a square or mesh pattern similar to a checker board. The squares are typically 1.5” on center. It is also available with a 1” x 4” rectangular mesh Pattern.
• Molded Grating is equally strong in both directions so the panels can be rotated 90 degrees and have the same support characteristics. 
• Molded Grating is available in 1”, 1.5” and 2” thick panels. 
• Molded Grating comes in 3’ x 10’, 4’ x 8’ and 4’ x 12’ panels.

For Pricing and availability click on: Molded FRP Grating.

PULTRUDED FRP GRATING

• Pultruded Grating consists of a series of parallel bars. The bearing bars typically have a ‘T’ or ‘I’ profile as in T-Bar or I-Bar. 
• The bearing pars are kept parallel with a series of cross-rods 6” apart that run at 90 degrees though the bearing bars. Cross-rods are not intended to be applied in the span direction.
• Pultruded grating can only support weight in the direction of the bearing bars. The bearing bars must traverse from support to support. 

For Pricing and Availabilty visit: Pultruded FRP Grating.