Quick Deploy Scaffolding

Objective:

The goal of this project was to establish the feasibility of a rapidly deployable scaffold designed for the shipyard environment that identifies a clear path towards a reduction of at least 50% in labor costs and 60% in assembly/disassembly time, when compared to erecting and dismantling existing scaffold solutions.

The team designed the Quick Deploy Scaffold (QDS) as a modular supported scaffold system.  It would delivered to the job-site pre-assembled but in a stowed configuration and which can be rapidly deployed by a pier crane.  Deployment is gravity-assisted, whereby the standards are hinged at their center in a scissor-like arrangement and engage the planking through a sliding hinge mechanism located in a channel.  A structural review analysis of the QDS showed the overall model was feasible.  A 1/5 scale working model was built and demonstrated as part of the project.

Final Report:

Email NSRP: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited