Re: [ARSCLIST] Floor Load Capacity

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, Nicole,

this is always a difficult question.

Are you using stationary or moving-aisle shelving?

This should never be done on this scale without consultation with a 
structural engineer.

The basic figuring is fairly easy to get close, but the calculation 
details should be reviewed with the structural engineer.

First order approximation for fixed-aisle shelving.

Take the linear footage weight of the records (assuming that the 
shelves will all be 12" deep and you won't make 10" deep shelves for 
the 10" records), multiply the weight per linear foot by the number 
of shelves high you plan to stack them.

For moving aisle shelving, you're essentially done as the full load 
per square foot is what is required.

You should also have a count of how many records per linear foot. For 
fixed-aisle shelving, you'll need to figure out the ratio of square 
footage of shelving to aisles and then apply that so you effectively 
spread the weight across the whole room, but beware that the 
structural engineer will also want to know point loads as for moving 
aisle shelving.

150 pounds per square foot is low for moving aisle shelving for 
videotape storage, so I suspect it's even less adequate for moving 
aisle storage for vinyl/shellac.

Cheers,

Richard

At 01:43 PM 2006-12-20, Nicole Blain wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Does anyone know what the standards are for floor load capacity for 
> stacks of 12" vinyl and 10" shellac discs.
>
> The standard for library book stacks is ~150 pounds psf.  I tried 
> and failed to find anything on the internet that specifies vinyl 
> and/or shellac.  I imagine it would be higher for the latter.  If 
> there's an official document or study out there too, it would help 
> convince the architects/engineers that this is an important issue.
>
> I found an article in the Fall 1993 ARSC Journal: Storage of Sound 
> Recordings by Richard Warren Jr.  He has weight per linear foot, but 
> not floor load capacity.
>
> Our collection houses ~175,000 12" vinyl and ~30,000 10" shellac discs.

Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.