the absolute best use od a ladder period

[lane912]

can I get a PE to run some load calcs please.....
African ladder Death Wish | News | Vertikal.net

[Gooch1971]

Mr. Darwin...Is that you?

[island911]

if you think that's crazy, you should see these things called "airplanes" - tube o'people which just 'hang' up in the sky.

Read: looks like they know what they are doing there - whether casual observers see it or not.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by island911

if you think that's crazy, you should see these things called "airplanes" - tube o'people which just 'hang' up in the sky.

Read: looks like they know what they are doing there - whether casual observers see it or not.

The guy sitting on the planks? He isn't a counterweight. The forces are trying to push those planks out away from the building and it appears he's simply sitting on them to provide enough friction to keep them from sliding.
If that is indeed the case, all he has to do is shift his weight wrong and the whole thing tumbles down.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

The guy sitting on the planks? He isn't a counterweight. The forces are trying to push those planks out away from the building and it appears he's simply sitting on them to provide enough friction to keep them from sliding.
If that is indeed the case, all he has to do is shift his weight wrong and the whole thing tumbles down.

Wrong again. The ladders are tied off inside. You can see the ropes under the Gothic arch. I think the painter is a brave man and quite ingenious. Something tells me that ain't his first rodeo.

[island911]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

The guy sitting on the planks? He isn't a counterweight. The forces are trying to push those planks out away from the building and it appears he's simply sitting on them to provide enough friction to keep them from sliding.
If that is indeed the case, all he has to do is shift his weight wrong and the whole thing tumbles down.

look closer... they have various ropes to keep the mess from sliding outward.




the biggest risk I see is a potential buckling failure half way up the top ladder.

[porsche4life]

If he climbed that thing and didn't walk out the planks and go straight up the third stage, well that second stage looks like a real beyotch....

[McLovin]

I wouldn't want to climb it, but it's not the worst Darwin posted on the intertubes, by far.

As long as everything is securely tied down, seems like it is ok. (In other words, the engineering concept seems sound - as far as execution of it, it's hard to tell for sure)

Since there are not follow up pics of the guy splattered on the ground, I think he proved it!

The pictures of people working under cars/trucks with homemade wooden ramps, car on side held up by old piece of wood, etc. seem far scarier.

[porsche4life]

At first glance, the ropes add confidence, but the more I look at it, the more I see things that one minor failure, could bring the whole freaking thing crashing down. Not safe at all.

I'll have to print this off and take it to my Ropes Course Facilitation teacher...

[asphaltgambler]

looks good to me........

[sammyg2]

Didn't see the ropes at first, you guy must have better eyes than I do or better puter monitors.
Is that guy holding onto the end of the rope?

The forces are trying to buckle the ladder, which is not designed to have any real strength in that direction.
It's designed for compression along it's axis, not perpidicular to it.
I haveno idea what the intention of the upper rops that are angled downward, they serve no visible purpose.

Is it strong enough to do the job? Obviously, at least it was up until the instant that picture was taken. Is he just lucky that it has not yet collapsed? of course he is.

[porsche4life]

The ropes that seem to be holding the two ladders together at the point they stick out scare me the most. Two wraps of probably cheap rope, on an edge that has a pretty good potential to be sharp. If those wraps go, the whole thing is toast.

[island911]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Didn't see the ropes at first, you guy must have better eyes than I do or better puter monitors. [/img]

30" 2560 x 1600

Originally Posted by sammyg2

..
I haveno idea what the intention of the upper rops that are angled downward, they serve no visible purpose. ..

My guess is to preload the mess so it's not too bouncy.

Like Milt said; likely not the guy's first rodeo.

[masraum]

I think ANYONE would be lucky to have that guy on their team. Anyone that can come up with that, build it, and then climb it has my vote. I bet that guy could solve ANY problem.

That definitely beats MacGuyver.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

The forces are trying to buckle the ladder, which is not designed to have any real strength in that direction.
It's designed for compression along it's axis, not perpidicular to it.
I haveno idea what the intention of the upper rops that are angled downward, they serve no visible purpose.

Is it strong enough to do the job? Obviously, at least it was up until the instant that picture was taken. Is he just lucky that it has not yet collapsed? of course he is.

Well, what's more is that he has separated an extension ladder into two sections. They are stronger as a connected pair.

Now I know all you engineer types can run the calcs on the angle of the dangle, but let me tell you that in the 40 years I have been using ladders (sometimes improperly) and been on other people's jobs where a lot worse ladders are being used than I would use, I have never seen one fail.

The only bent ladders I have seen are on the side of the freeway. The potential to get hurt working on a ladder is pretty much all in the hands of the guy on it. IOW, human error is always the culprit.

So the rigging here is second only to the painter slipping. The ladder sections will survive and he is betting his life on that.

I don't know what the fvk the other guys is doing sitting there holding a vertical rope unless we just can't see how it's strung. Perhaps he raised the paint because it would have been more than the Great Valendas could have done to climb that carrying a paint bucket.

Ask me how I know.

[vash]

i wouldnt climb that! but i bet it is fairly safe.

the only downside i see is that he is putting all the load on the rungs of the ladder(s), and not the "feet". all the load is putting a shear load on the rungs..but the shear load is relatively the same as a man standing on that one rung. no?

not clear to me why that extra man is sitting on that plank.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

i wouldnt climb that! but i bet it is fairly safe.

the only downside i see is that he is putting all the load on the rungs of the ladder(s), and not the "feet". all the load is putting a shear load on the rungs..but the shear load is relatively the same as a man standing on that one rung. no?

not clear to me why that extra man is sitting on that plank.

Because if/when it finally goes, it'll be twice as horrifyingly funny (or is that hilariously horrifying?).

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by vash

i wouldnt climb that! but i bet it is fairly safe.

the only downside i see is that he is putting all the load on the rungs of the ladder(s), and not the "feet". all the load is putting a shear load on the rungs..but the shear load is relatively the same as a man standing on that one rung. no?

not clear to me why that extra man is sitting on that plank.

The guy sitting on the plank is the safety officer.....

[glewis80SC]

Looks good to me.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by GWN7

The guy sitting on the plank is the safety officer.....

Exactly. Required by the Union!