I have done a lot of elevated supermarkets, and the operators have usually provided their company specification. 5kPa (100psf) for the trading floor, usually 7.5kPa (150psf) to 10kPa (200psf) for the back of house stacking areas. About 15kPa (300psf) in the loading dock area. Watch out for the delivery areas. Big trucks making deliveries require highway loading.
Thank you Hokie66, do you have the reference for this loads, i need to print out.
I search in the web for this kind of projects (elevated supermarket) i didn't found, can you give me some links.
Anab,
No reference which I can give you. As I said, the quoted live loads came from proprietary design requirement specifications, in this case from the two largest Australian supermarket chains.
Agree with hokie also quoting the large Australian chains. 150psf for trading floors and 250psf for back of house. These requirements are client specific (very powerful clients) and would exceed the minimum values setout in IBC.
I spend too much time in grocery stores early in my working life, but man it made me appreciate working as an engineer!
That said, when shelves are stocked at night they often bring the pallets out and place them in the aisles. So Hokie's suggestions sound right on, since you never know where these will be placed. The canned food pallets are HEAVY!
I agree that a floor load of 200 psf in the main shopping area seems appropriate in the absence of more detailed information from the client. I check the U.S. military UFC 3-301-01 criteria whenever there is a live load not covered by ASCE/IBC. They require 200 psf for "Galley-provision storage (not refrigerated)" which is probably the closest to the situation you have.
