11.1 FOREWORD

Runways are widely used in industry to provide a single track upon which a lifting appliance is fitted to allow loads to be raised, lowered and travelled along the path of the runway. Typical areas of usage are in loading bays, adjacent to work benches, in foundries, on production lines, to provide a lifting facility in yards and for loading and unloading from multi-storey buildings by internal runways and external cantilever jibs.

Runways may be manufactured from standard constructional sections or from special track section systems and may be supported from building structures, dedicated free standing structures or a combination of both. They may also be built into machines or the bodywork of service vehicles.

Generally available in capacities up to 10 tonnes, runways offer a cost effective alternative to overhead travelling cranes for lifting and moving loads along a determined path. Their designs range from the basic dedicated runway to lift out a piece of plant to complex production units capable of serving large areas. The most sophisticated systems may include switches, turntables, bends, etc. allowing the movement of the load along alternative routes.

A form of runway is often fitted to high-rise buildings to allow access for external maintenance and window cleaning. Such runways have been excluded from this code. Guidance should be made to the manufacturer’s instructions or suitable LEEA member organisation, which should be followed at all times.

A further variation of the runway is the lift shaft lifting beam. Although such beams are usually intended for use with a fixed point lifting arrangement, their design and testing requirements are to the same criteria as runway beams. (For guidance on the verification of lift shaft lifting beams refer to LEEA 076 Guidance to the verification of lift shaft support structures).

It should be remembered that a runway only becomes an effective lifting appliance when fitted with a trolley and hoist or similar lifting appliance which may be either manually or power operated. In the case of power operation on long systems, electric hoists are usually fitted due to the difficulties of providing compressed air over large distances.