Safway Introduces QuikShield™ Suspended Access System
Waukesha, WI (PRWEB) February 11, 2014 -- Safway Group is announcing the launch of QuikShield™, a game-changing, low-cost, versatile suspended access product. Extremely stable and easy to assemble, with plywood decking in steel frames, QuikShield effectively bridges the gap between old-style suspended access systems and top-of-the-line options like Safway’s QuikDeck.
“Safway understands that a safe, stable work platform is one of the keys to efficient, high-quality work,” said Mathieu Grumberg, engineering manager for Safway Group’s Bridge Division. “Trades know high-quality access results in high-quality work.”
Erection of QuikShield requires no specialized tools or labor. With its light, easily manipulated platform sections, it can be assembled at a rate of 600 square feet per worker per day. Plywood in galvanized frames is positioned on dual-wire-rope tendons. As sections are placed, they are suspended with three-eighths-inch chain, using the same brackets that Safway uses for QuikDeck.
QuikShield provides a surface rigid enough to support ladders and wheeled equipment, although its deck need not be horizontal. This makes QuikShield an ideal way to deliver access along curved surfaces, such as bridge arches.
With its unique combination of features, QuikShield allows a level of worker security and productivity far beyond those of traditional suspended systems. At the same time, its simplicity, quick erection and low cost make it extremely competitive. QuikShield features include:
• Stackable sections (in sizes and shapes from 1 foot by 4 feet to 2 feet by 8 feet) are extremely stable but light enough for easy handling.
• The smooth, continuous surface makes material movement as well as containment and removal of blasting debris easier.
• Its non-slip wood surface protects workers against accidents and falls.
• A unique bracket provides a fool-proof connection to the suspension chain above, and also offers a visually-indicated positive lock on the tendon cable below.
• Rigid, adjustable-height guard rails increase security and facilitate work in low-overhead situations.
• The system handles live-load capacities from 25 to 100 pounds per square foot.
QuikShield is backed up by Safway’s The SMART Way™ business philosophy. This means that any QuikShield access solution will also include innovative, proactive planning, support from the industry’s leading engineering team, expert installation and field supervision, and state-of-the-art project and inventory tracking technology. Above all, Safway’s safety-focused culture promises that those working on and around QuikShield can be confident that the equipment is engineered, installed, inspected and maintained with a constant dedication to worker safety.
“During a pilot project on Boston’s iconic Longfellow Bridge, the product proved that in the right situation, it’s a game-changer,” Grumberg said. QuikShield covered spans between segments of QuikDeck on each end and in the center of the bridge’s arches, providing access for J.F. White’s team of workers. QuikDeck is Safway’s top-of-the-line rigid suspended access system and is utilized in combination with QuikShield.
Michael Keller, the project superintendent for J.F. White, said “The wooden deck [of QuikShield] provides much more traction, plus it gives us a more secure feeling. Stability-wise and strength-wise, there’s no comparison to the other systems I’ve worked on,” he added.
Peter Bidgood of Carpenters Local 40, who worked on the Longfellow Bridge project, said the QuikShield system is, “very universal,” adding, “There are a thousand-and-one applications for us. It’s easy to work with, and I think it’s safe. With some of the other systems I’ve seen, the materials are too heavy. You really don’t have to muscle these panels.”
For more information about QuikShield, see the brochure here: http://www.safway.com/Products/QuikShield.asp.
About Safway Group
With locations across North America and a growing system of distributors worldwide, Safway Group companies deliver efficient, high-performance multiservice solutions – The Smart Way™ – by collaborating, communicating and sharing resources. Offering experience and expertise in access, scaffolding, insulation, fireproofing, surface preparation and coatings, Safway Group companies include CL Coatings, Industrial Coatings and Fireproofing (ICF), Redi Insulation, Swing Staging, Safway Atlantic, Safway Services; Safway Services Canada and Swing Staging. With the largest engineering staff, an exclusive project management system, award-winning safety excellence and a full line of products and services, Safway Group companies design and implement innovative, quality solutions at the lowest installed cost for projects of any size and scope. Safway has been an industry leader since 1936. Safway Group companies serve the petrochemical, oil and gas, power, refining, marine, manufacturing, transportation and commercial construction industries worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.safwaygroup.com.
Photos available upon request.
Branwyn Rhodes, Safway Group, https://www.safway.com/, +1 414-550-1337, [email protected]
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