Equipment-support platforms. Engineered for the point load, not the catalogue.
Elevated platforms supporting HVAC units, process equipment, conveyor takeaways, and tank-top fittings. The design driver is rarely uniform load — it's the concentrated point load at four equipment feet, plus dynamic load if the equipment vibrates. We design to those numbers, not the generic 125 psf.
Where equipment lives above the floor.
Equipment-support platforms are about clearance — getting equipment off the floor for headroom below, separating it from process flow, or routing service connections cleanly. They are also about vibration management: a poorly supported HVAC unit on a steel platform can transmit harmonics through the building if the connections aren't isolated correctly. The structural design is more about fatigue and dynamic load than the static psf rating most mezzanines optimize for.
Common applications
- HVAC platforms — interior or rooftop AHUs, RTUs, exhaust fans. Often paired with roof access stairs for service.
- Process equipment — batch tanks, mixers, pumps, controllers; mounted off-grade for clearance and serviceability.
- Conveyor support — elevated runs of conveyor between operations. See conveyor support platforms.
- Tank-top platforms — service deck on top of a process tank or silo for fittings and instrumentation.
- Compressor / chiller skids — elevated skid platforms for noise isolation and service access.
Detail decisions
- Point-load mapping — equipment shop drawings give the foot pattern and per-foot weight. We size beams and decking to those numbers, not the average uniform load.
- Vibration isolation — for rotating equipment (pumps, compressors, AHUs), neoprene or spring isolators between the equipment foot and the platform; tuned to the operating RPM range.
- Service access — every platform has a defined access route — usually a stair, sometimes a cage ladder, plus a working area around the equipment.
- Drip pans / containment — for fluid-handling equipment; integrated into the platform deck rather than added later.
- Service clearance — minimum service clearance on all sides per manufacturer's documentation; worked into the platform footprint at design.
Typical parameters
- Load classper equipment shop drawing (point-load driven)
- Spantypically 8 – 30 ft (equipment-driven)
- Deckplate / bar-grate / B-deck per application
- Vibration isolationintegrated where equipment specifies
- Service clearanceper equipment manufacturer
- Guard42" with kick-plate
- Finishshop primer / galvanized / powder-coat
- Lead time5 – 8 weeks from sign-off
- All mezzanines & work platforms
- Conveyor support platforms — sub-type for conveyor scopes
- Catwalks — service routes between equipment platforms
- Cage ladders — vertical access where stairs don't fit