Fork truck loading for "road plate"

[aalmeter]

Hello all.

Hoping someone could give me a guideline for the proper loadings to use for the permanent installation of a road plate.

I need to cover a transfer switch for a set of R/R tracks and grating is out because of the heavy snow and ice in the area....we are looking to protect and cover the switch.

99% of the anticipated traffic will be on foot (using a textured plate to accommodate for this), but there is the possibility of fork truck traffic.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[par060]

...a 5 ton lift truck has an axle load of about 21000 lbs...ACI manual of concrete practice design of slabs on grade has a table w/ other lift sizes

 

[MiketheEngineer]

What are the dimensions of the plate??

ASD Ninth Edition page 2-145 has allowable loads for steel plates.

 

[aalmeter]

about 5' x 5'

I'd like to use diamond plate or something textured for slip resistance. And grating is out, as it does little to protect the switch from snow and ice. I'm having trouble finding any sort of textured plate thicker than 1/2"

 

[bridgebuster]

This post has some info on road plates

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=177907