
Wherever severe corrosion conditions are present, or a long maintenance free life is required, Unistrut® aluminium cable ladder systems are the obvious choice.
Unistrut® manufactures a complete range of Aluminium cable ladder systems that conform to NEMA VE1. These systems provide a wide range of load and span combinations to suit the requirements of almost any installation.
Most frequently, aluminium cable ladders are selected because of their excellent performance in marine environments where salt spray or salt laden atmosphere is present. Applications such as wharves, coal loader conveyors or similar port facilities as well as coal mines, smelters, chemical processing plants and refineries are all typical users of aluminium cable ladders.
The unique Unistrut® aluminium system splice plate is close fitting so that it is retained neatly and firmly on the cable ladder side rail. The splice design also permits up to 10mm of expansion and contraction movement at each joint – an important consideration with aluminium cable ladders – eliminates the need to place special expansion splices at predetermined intervals. The installation procedure for the splice connection is fast and simple.
Notes: To attain maximum working load of the system, the following recommendations should be adopted:
The principal feature of all Unistrut® cable ladder accessories is the ‘built-in’ plate. An extension of the accessory side-rail permits direct connection to the straight ladder, eliminating the need for a separate splice component.
The advantages of this method are:
Accessories are attached with the same fasteners as used for straight splice plates.
Elongated slots allow easier fit-up and permit adjustments in alignment to be absorbed.
Accessories
All aluminium cable ladder systems are complemented by a full range of standardised fabricated accessories and fittings which are readily available.
The general purpose hold-down bracket can be positioned at any point along ladder length, even in the situation where a rung and support member coincide. The bracket provides a large bearing area for the side-rail and permits free expansion movement to occur.
For side mounted ladders, or where rigid fixing of ladder is required, the rigid clamping bracket can be used.
Unistrut® aluminium cable ladder systems are manufactured from high strength alloy 6063-T6 for all extruded components to AS / NZS1866 and 5005 for sheet or plate components to AS / NZS1734. These alloys are suitable for marine applications and offer excellent all round corrosion resistance. All fasteners are made from 300 series grade of stainless steel for optimum corrosion resistance.
The rungs are fillet welded to the side rails, which further improves the overall stability as well as strength of finished product.