ACS-A was tasked to develop a portable, light-weight, composite stair system for use by rail personnel who have to climb up ballast to reach tracks in order to attend train breakdowns, derailments or need to perform in-field maintenance.
The project involved the development of concepts, from which one was down selected, and a detailed functional design developed which met the performance targets and requirements set by relevant AS 1657 Australian Standards for stairways.
Using the developed design, a prototype composite ballast stair was manufactured by ACS-A and delivered to the customer for field evaluation purposes. The ballast stairs were found to work well with further refinements identified for future prototypes.
Light-weight Composite Stairs are designed and manufactured to be compliant with the following Australian Standards:
– AS 1657 Fixed platforms, walkways, stairways and ladders
– AS/NZS 1576 Scaffolding General requirements
– AS 1892 Portable Ladders Requirements