Arch Beams: Potential Danger

Potential Dangers of Arch Beam or Castellated Beam...

Arch beam (castellated beam) is a type of crane that looks like the ones in these images.  Though it hasn’t been manufactured since 1962, it is still in use in plants throughout North America.  

Companies need to be aware of the possible dangers posed by age and fatigue in the welds of these Arch Beams (castellated beams).

• Cracks in welds and lower T Sections
• Tracks with raised tread worn away
• Most cranes have exceeded their useful life expectancy, but some users see cranes as “timeless”
• Current inadequate crane maintenance regulations may lull owners into a false sense of security about crane safety and/or conditions
• Due to the age of equipment, the exact understanding of a crane’s design duty cycle may be difficult to determine without engineering analysis. (i.e. documentation may be missing)

Gorbel Recommendations

View a pdf document with more information...

Got Arch Beam? Here is what we recommend:

Our primary recommendation is to Replace All Arch Beams with Tarca® Beams - contact Gorbel at 800-821-0086 or email [email protected]

• If this is economically unfeasible, a certified engineer should conduct regular safety audits
• Identify the highest risk cranes in your inventory by age and cycles
• Study and compare the original design versus the current usage
• Fully inspect every weld in the beam. Through inspections, find discontinuity and then use non destructive testing 
• Benchmark critical components using reliability based maintenance practices and software