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William R. Jackman, Manager Inspection Services
Raymond S. Milman, Chief Structural Engineer
Middough Associates Inc.
Cleveland, Ohio

LESSONS FROM CRANE RUNWAY INSPECTIONS

AISE 1998 Annual Convention

September, 1998 - Pittsburgh

Introduction

For the last 20 years Middough Associates Inc. has actively participated in crane runway upgrade and modification
projects for the steel industry.

Originally, crane runway inspections started as a part of crane runway upgrade projects with the purpose to evaluate
the physical condition of the crane runway and determine damage to be repaired during implementation of the above
projects.

Later, as a concern about safety and uninterrupted crane service became serious factors in steel mill operations, crane
runway inspections have become a part of regularly scheduled maintenance programs at many steel plants.

At the present time, the Structural Inspection Group is the busiest group in Middough Industrial Division.

In the proposed paper, the authors share their 20 years experience in structural crane runway inspections. Two
subjects are covered in this paper:

• Planning, performance and safety requirements.

• Review of the most common crane runway component connection failures and proposed solutions.

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Planning, Performance and Safety Requirements

Crane runway girders and their back-up systems (tie-backs, beams, jack trusses, etc.) are subjected to the most severe
dynamic loadings produced by traveling cranes.

The trouble-free crane operation, in great extent, depends on a good working condition of the crane runway system.
To maintain the crane runway in this condition the steel plant department responsible for the crane and crane runway
maintenance should continuously update information about the physical condition of the crane runway, and this
requires regularly scheduled crane runway inspections. Results of these inspections should help to plan the crane
runway maintenance work, preventive repair and capital repair or modification of the crane runway components.

There are two types of structural crane runway inspections: general and detailed.

A general crane runway inspection mostly includes a visual inspection of crane girders, back-up system and their
connections, defects detailed by previous inspections and safety examination of walkways and stairways. This
inspection, in most cases, requires only a short interruption of the crane operation.

A detailed structural inspection includes all aspects of the general inspection and the following:

• Close-up examination of all members and their connections to defect cracks and extent of their propagation,
loose bolts and member section loss due to deterioration. All detected defects shall be documented and
photographed.

• Crane rail system instrumental surveys to determine the current geometry of the crane runway in vertical
and horizontal planes and detect rail and crane girder misalignments.

• An inspection report which provides a detailed description and location of all detected deficiencies and
summary with recommended repairs or recommendations for further engineering required to investigate
reasons for the particular failure and develop a design solution for the problem.

Twenty years of Middough involvement in the crane runway inspections show that a successful crane runway
inspection depends on four capital “P”’s:

• Planning
• Preparation
• Personnel
• Performance

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In all of these four phases of the crane runway inspection a close cooperation between the plant personnel and the
inspection group is extremely important.

Planning

The general inspection typically does not require special planning efforts and can be performed during scheduled
maintenance breaks in the shop operation .

The detailed inspection requires a substantial time span and access to all points of inspection.

Planning of this inspection includes:

• Definition of the time span to perform inspection, which shall be determined by the joint effort of the
inspection group management and plant personnel based on the Scope of Work, accessibility of the points
of inspection, the number of inspectors involved in the inspection and a possible time span which can be
provided by the shop without a serious interference with the crane operations.

• Review of means of access. In most cases, additional equipment such as manlifts, ladders or the crane use
are required to inspect details, especially those located below the crane runway girder top flanges.

• Planning for crane runway cleaning. It’s impossible to do a complete inspection of the runway when the
structure is covered by several inches to a foot of dust, grease and debris. The runway cleaning shall be
organized by plant personnel and performed prior to the scheduled day for the inspection.

• Review of safety requirements which shall be enforced during the inspection. This includes a review of
personal fall protection system and safety lines. If existing horizontal safety lines on crane runways do not
satisfy the new 1998 OSHA Fall Protection requirements, the safety lines shall be redesigned and modified
or different means of access shall be used (manlifts, cranes, etc.)

Preparation

The scope of preparation work shall be determined during the planning phase of the crane runway inspection project.

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The preparation work organized by the plant personnel includes:

• Runway cleaning.

• Verification of safety regulations.

• Communication between crane operation personnel and inspectors.

The preparation work by the inspection group includes:

• Review of the runway design drawings and previous inspection reports.

• Review means of access to the particular points of the runway inspection.

• Review of safety requirements and personal safety equipment used during the inspection.

Personnel

It is preferable that all members of the inspection group have training related to crane runway system inspection and
climbing techniques, along with excellent health. The advantage of using personnel with engineering training, is that
those people are able to correctly recognize deterioration and failure of crane runway components and properly
describe observed deficiencies. A special heat-stress test designed specifically for inspection personnel must be
passed by each inspector on a once a year basis.

Performance

The performance phase of the inspection involves the actual inspection process.

Prior to starting the inspection a brief meeting shall be held between plant personnel and the inspection group to
verify:

• A time span given for the inspection.

• Details of possible crane operation during inspection.

• A crane power shot-down period during which the crane runway side with hot rails can be inspected.

• Location and means of communication with the rescue department.

Usually the crane runway inspection requires a few hours to a full or several shifts depending on the length of the
runway and accessibility of the inspection points.

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After access to the runway is gained, the runway is inspected in the following sequence: the connections between the
crane runway girder top flange and the building column are visually examined for loose, sheared and missing bolts
and rivets, cracked welds and broken and cracked structural members. Bolts and rivets are checked for looseness.
Found cracks are checked with dye penetrant to determine the visual end of the crack, and all the findings are
recorded by photographs and notes. The same process is used while inspecting the seat bolt connections, walkway
plates to girder top flange and back-up members, bottom flange bracing, back-up members and crane columns and
longitudinal bracing. During the inspection, the structure is examined for misalignment of members, physical
damage to the members and any field modifications are noted for later review.

Deficiencies found during the inspection are then reviewed with the Client’s engineering representatives and high
priority repair items are noted in writing.

The Findings and Recommendations are combined into a formal report which includes a list of detailed findings,
repair recommendations, photographs and repair sketches. This report can the be used to satisfy a number of
requirements such as insurance needs, cyclical repair programs, upcoming planned repairs and structure upgrade
projects.

Safety Requirements

Each member of the inspection group must follow and obey the safety requirements – this is the most important
aspect of the successful structural inspection.

The safety requirements for the crane runway inspection shall include, but not be limited to the following:

• Full lockout of the electric power for the cranes in the inspection affected area must be completed prior to
the inspection start.

• Radio communication between all members of the inspection team, safety men and plant personnel must be
established.

• All inspectors must use Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) - helmet, safety glasses, safety shoes,
respirator, gloves and fall protection full-body harnesses, which must be permanently attached to the lifeline
or other reliable anchorage during the inspections.

• Safety personnel shall be appointed to monitor the crane operation if it is considered during the inspection
time.

• Gas detection equipment must be used where required.

• Sufficient water and first aid must be on-site for the inspection team use.

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Most Common Crane Runway Component Failures and Proposed Solutions

There is no intention of this paper to review cases of welded or riveted crane runway girder failures as a result of
fatigue related stress fluctuations. A significant amount of research papers are written about this subject.

The purpose of this part of the paper is to review a few of the most common failures of connections between crane
runway components, such as:

• the girder to column seat connection

• the girder to column tie-back connection

• the girder back-up beam or truss to column connection, and

• the walkway plate to girder top flange and back-up beam connections.

The number of the above connection failures substantially exceeds the number of fatigue related girder failures.

The common reason for the connection failures in most cases is a difference between an analytical model of these
connections and a real life work of the components and their connections.

Real life restraints to a free displacement and/or rotation of the crane girder and back-up components, transform
crane girders and back-up beams into statically indeterminate structures with redundant support reactions (axial
loads, shears and moments) of high magnitude, which are able to damage connections in the short time by cyclic
loadings created by crane passages over the crane girder.

Changing the analytical model to account for the expected restraints and design connections able to resist the
redundant forces or redesign connections to eliminate these restraints could prevent failure of the specified above
connections.

Girder to Column Seat Connections

Failure of this bolted connection is represented by loose, sheared or pop-up seat bolts (Photograph No. 1).

An investigation of these types of failure shows the presence of high magnitude shear and uplift forces able to break
or loosen the seat bolts.

A review of two analytical models of the crane runway girder can help to explain reasons for the above failures.

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A design model of the crane girder as a simple span statically determined beam (Figure 1a) is a model typically used
by designers. This model assumes that the beam has one pinned support and other rolled support, and the girder
bottom flange has the freedom to expand under the action of the crane vertical loads. However, in real life, most of
single span crane girders have two almost pinned supports, which create a restraint to the bottom flange expansion
and this results in cyclic horizontal shear forces at the seat bolt connection during each crane passage.

In real life, the crane runway girders are members of the runway longitudinal frame and the horizontal stiffness of
each girder support depends on the column stiffness and vertical bracing location.

A simplified real life crane girder design model shown on Fig. 1b could determine, with acceptable accuracy,
magnitude of the shear forces at the girder seat. It should be noted that longitudinal frame stiffness (K1) is different
at each column of the runway, but the designer is able to pick up the most conservative magnitudes to determine the
maximum shear forces. The stiffness of the tie-back (K2) is negligible in magnitude for this analysis, however, a
displacement of this spring support point will show the girder top flange longitudinal displacement during each crane
passage, which needs to be permitted by the tie-back detail without overstress, otherwise the failure of tie-back is a
matter of time.

Girder to Column Tie-Back Connections

The function of the girder to column tie-back connection is to deliver the crane runway transverse horizontal forces
(side thrust, skewing) to the building column.

Failure of this connection could cause the girder instability and accelerated damage of the girder seat bolts and
failure of the back-up beam.

Among a wide variety of the girder to column tie-back connections the following are most common:

• A vertical diaphragm between the girder bearing stiffener or web and the column upper shaft. This is a
common detail in the old riveted crane runway girders.

• A rigid tie-back detail (angles, tees or channels) between the girder bearing stiffener and the back-up beam
or column.

• A tie-back link with ball-type bearings installed between the girder top flange and column upper shaft.

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The first two tie-back connections create a various degree of resistance to girder rotation at the support. In general,
the stronger the resistance (high rigidity) of these details to the horizontal displacement of their connections to
girders, the faster failure of these connections will occur. The longest survivor among these two types of tie-backs is
the thin vertical diaphragm, which often is strong enough to accept crane horizontal forces without exceeding the
allowable strength limits and flexible enough to provide a possibility for the girder rotation at the support without
damaging this connection.

Typical failures of tie-back details are shown on the following photographs:

Photograph Nos. 2 and 3 - Channel C8 tie-back detail is installed between the girder bearing stiffener and
the back-up beam web. This type of tie-back connection is the worst one among listed above. The crane
horizontal side thrust forces are delivered through this connection not directly to the column, but to the
back-up beam first, then to the column. In most cases the back-up beam and its connection to the column
are not designed to resist the above forces, and that could cause damage of the back-up beam and this
connection.

Three most common cases of failure:

• Breakage of connecting clip angles (Photograph No. 2)

• Breakage of bolts (Photograph No. 3)

• Damage of back-up beam (Photograph No. 4).

Photograph No. 5 - A short vertical diaphragm and an angle for each girder at the column. A bolt failure is
the most common for this type connection failure.

Photograph No. 6 - A very rigid vertical diaphragm (Plate 1”x16”) with 8 (eight) high strength bolt
connection to the girder bearing stiffener and to the column upper shaft. A most common failure is a bolt
breakage. However, in some cases the bearing stiffener to girder weld is the weakest part of this connection
and it fails (Photograph No. 7).

The best solution for the existing and potential problem of the tie-back connections is a replacement of failed or
expected to fail connections with rotation free link type connections.

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Back-Up Beam or Truss to Column Connections

Most of the steel mill crane runways for cranes of 40 tons and the greater lifting capacity are equipped with the crane
girder back-up beams or trusses.

The functions of back-up structures are to be a part of the crane runway horizontal diaphragm, support the crane
runway walkway at the girder top flange level and to be a strut for the building column.

Typically back-up structures (beams and trusses) are analyzed as a statically determinate simple span structure for
the action of walkway and crane horizontal loads. However, typically, the back-up beam (or truss) is connected to
the column upper shaft with double clip angles for a full depth of the web at both ends. This creates a statically
indeterminate beam or truss with semi-rigid ends. Unknowns are a horizontal reaction and bending moment at the
support.

Deep crane girders having a minimal angular rotation at the support due to crane vertical loads could have a
horizontal displacement of the girder top flange end in the range between 1/8 to 3/8 of an inch.

Being unable to provide a free horizontal displacement for the back-up beam, equal to the crane girder
displacements, clip angled connections develop resisting forces to restrain the back-up beam displacement. The
magnitude of these cyclic forces is a function of the girder displacement and the stiffness of the clip angled
connection. The analytical definition of these forces is quite complicated, but possible. The field observation of the
back-up beam support failures proves that those short term cyclic loads can be high enough to break the connection
in a relatively short period of time.

A few typical cases of back-up beam connection failures are shown on following photographs:

• Photograph No. 8 - The clip angles are broken at the column side.

• Photograph No. 9 - However, in the case when the 3/4 inch clip angles are stronger than the beam web, the
beam is developing cracks at the top flange to web fillet and through upper bolt hole. This cracking will
continue. Repair of the upper crack will not solve problem, it will crack again.

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• Photograph No. 10 - The back-up truss support upper clip angles are cracked, but the lower connection is
still functional. The upper clip angle’s failure released the support from excessive rigidity, which may be
enough to permit a required displacement of the top flange.

To minimize or eliminate the forces which cause back-up structure connection damage, those connections shall be
designed to account for the expected restraint forces or with a possibility of support release from those forces. A
seated connection with web or top flange clip angles with slotted holes could provide this solution for the back-up
beams. The solution for back-up truss is shown in Figure 2.

Walkway Plate to Girder Top Flange and Back-Up Beam Connections

The walkway plate supported on one side by the crane girder top flange and on other side by the back-up beam
performs a function of the web of the crane runway horizontal diaphragm (Fig. 2). The main function of this
diaphragm is to deliver crane horizontal loads from the girder span to the columns and provide lateral support for the
girder top flange.

Connections of the walkway plate to the girder and the back-up beam are subjected to cyclic horizontal shear loads
associated with crane girder load cycles.

The most common walkway plate connections to the girder and the back-up member are:

• Riveted, typical for old crane runways with riveted girders

• Stitch and plug welded, typical for crane runways with welded crane girders built prior to the time, when
fatigue failures of these connections became a well-known concern. Since 1990 the ANSI/AWS D1.1
“Structural Welding Code, Steel” prohibits use of intermittent and plug welded connection for cyclically
loaded structures.

• Bolted, used mostly in the crane runway projects since mid 1970 and as a repair of failed riveted or
intermittently welded connections.

An accurate numerical definition of the shear flow in these connections for the case when the back-up beam is
restrained at the support and the girder is free to rotate is extremely difficult. The cyclic longitudinal drag forces
applied at these connections could be large enough to break back-up beam connections to columns and release this
restraint, loosen or break riveted and bolted connections and break intermittent welds.

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The typical failure of this multi-point longitudinal connection start at one point usually close to the support of the
girder or back-up beam and then progress downwards to midspan (Photograph No. 11). It is not unusual to see a
complete disconnection of the girder top flange to the walkway plate, especially in cases with stitch and plug welded
connections. This could cause the crane girder instability problem.

To solve this problem the designer first shall provide a proper solution for the back-up beam connection and then
design the walkway plate to girder and back-up beam connections based on the shear flow from the standard crane
girder and horizontal diaphragm analyses for crane vertical and horizontal forces.

Summary

To provide safe trouble free crane operations, the crane runway systems shall be maintained in good physical
conditions.

The crane runway and the crane operating on this runway shall compose one system in which both components of
this system are equally important.

The periodically scheduled crane runway inspections which include crane rail system survey and the crane runway
component inspections will help to avoid accidental failure of the crane runway, unscheduled repairs and production
loss due to crane downtime.

To perform a high quality crane runway inspection a few requirements shall be met:

• The crane runway must be clean prior to inspection to avoid missing hidden defects.

• A convenient access to all points of crane runway must be provided.

• Approved safety lines to attach inspector’s fall protection equipment must be provided.

The knowledge of potentially troubled connections of the crane runway components shall help to develop a
modification/replacement solutions for these connections and schedule time for the implementation of these
solutions.

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MIDDOUGH ASSOCIATES /NC.
ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS

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Figure No. 1 - Crane Girder Analytical Model

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MIDDOUGH ASSOCIATES /NC.
ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS
Figure No. 2 - Crane Runway Top Plan and Details
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ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS
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Photograph No. 2 Photograph No. 3

Photograph No. 4
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ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS

Photograph No. 5 - Photograph No. 6

Photograph No. 7
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ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS
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