# Putting a cage around busway



## OffGrid187 (Jun 19, 2020)

How low is this bus duct? I generally never see it below 10 feet or thereabouts.


----------



## RSmike (Jul 31, 2008)

Duct is on the ceiling....30' up. Been there for 35-40 years. We are about 1.5 million sq feet. Probably have a thousand feet of duct in this place. 

Some wise guy in this place thinks this would be a good idea to prevent potential damage. 

They have no concept of what this will cost. Well....neither do I... but I have to at least come up with a rough estimate to toss it out to management to scare them all away.

It's gotta be a couple hundred bucks a foot.


----------



## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

A cage will not stop a forklift.


----------



## OffGrid187 (Jun 19, 2020)

How are forklifts damaging duct 30 feet high?


----------



## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

I gave up on idiot proofing things. I had a supervisor tell me "my people can break an anvil with a rubber mallet". He was right.


----------



## RSmike (Jul 31, 2008)

OffGrid187 said:


> How are forklifts damaging duct 30 feet high?


It's about 35' to the deck. We have stand up reach trucks. With a double stacked load of stuff....no problem in our place.


There isn't anything our drivers cannot break... They find a way.


I was discussing with our operations maintenance leader and we both estimate it would be more than $200 per foot but perhaps less than $500. That's sort of our wild guess based upon our internal skill set, past projects, and cost of goodies. Anyone got a feel for this number?


----------



## RSmike (Jul 31, 2008)

John Valdes said:


> A cage will not stop a forklift.


Please tell that to my management and our production engineers.


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

It would be cheaper to just paint it safety yellow and order spare bus sections to replace what they run into.

John


----------



## oldsparky52 (Feb 25, 2020)

drsparky said:


> I gave up on idiot proofing things. I had a supervisor tell me "my people can break an anvil with a rubber mallet". He was right.


You make it more idiotproof and they come up with better idiots.


----------



## Coppersmith (Aug 11, 2017)

Trip wires with explosive charges aimed downward will weed out the offenders.


----------



## RSmike (Jul 31, 2008)

Anyone got any ideas on costs?

I do appreciate the humor and it's helping to keep my sanity in check with stupid requests for stuff like this.


----------



## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

RSmike said:


> Anyone got any ideas on costs?
> 
> I do appreciate the humor and it's helping to keep my sanity in check with stupid requests for stuff like this.


I think what everyone is trying to tell you is that the cost is irrelevant. No amount of guarding or cages will stop them from shoving the duct through the ceiling. 
How many bollards do you have that are bent at an angle, that is an example right there. 
Backer up til the taillights bust, you’re there then.


----------



## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Get with the times. 

Signs indicating low overhead clearance and paint on the floor would help indicate where the hazard is with out looking up to find it.
Light beam sensors hooked to a loud siren 4 feet either side of the duct and a Video camera in the area will also help.


----------



## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Just buy a few thousand tennis balls and hang them from the ceiling with string. If the balls hit them in they face they will know to stop driving forward. It works for my elderly neighbor in her garage. This is assuming they don't like balls in their face.


----------



## bill39 (Sep 4, 2009)

drsparky said:


> I gave up on idiot proofing things. I had a supervisor tell me "my people can break an anvil with a rubber mallet". He was right.


I couldn’t agree more! I worked at a paper corrugated plant and saw a 3-ft. scanner wrench bent into a “U” because it was run between th paper drums.

They kept it around for a souvenir.


----------



## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

As others have said this will not help.
1. You are putting something up in the air, if they hit the buss dust then they will sure as ____ hit the protection that is lower.
2. WHEN they hit the protection it has a better chance of something falling off of that then the buss hurting someone.
3. Better chance of pushing the protection into the Buss and shorting something out
4. Let the flash wean out the idiots that hit it.

Cowboy
I support this message and you can show theses posts to your bosses.


----------



## VELOCI3 (Aug 15, 2019)

How many bus runs and what size are they? Where are they in relation to the ceiling. A picture would help in this situation. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

As much as I hate to say it. Are there any corrective actions taken when these things happen?
I mean if they can destroy things with immunity, they will continue to destroy things.
Hitting someone in the pocketbook seems to help in most occasions. You can get what I mean.

I always hated big brother at work. But if this happens regularly, something has to give.


----------



## RSmike (Jul 31, 2008)

MotoGP1199 said:


> Just buy a few thousand tennis balls and hang them from the ceiling with string. If the balls hit them in they face they will know to stop driving forward. It works for my elderly neighbor in her garage. This is assuming they don't like balls in their face.


 

This made be laugh out loud until I was nearly crying....


----------



## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Maybe go the deterrent route, take the covers off the bus duct or switch to open conductors.


----------



## CMP (Oct 30, 2019)

Bolt the barrier to the floor, so they cannot get close enough to reach it. Remove a section of the barrier to allow a man-lift to access the duct.


The first time the duct gets shorted out and takes the plant offline, the engineers will think differently. Seeing is believing.


----------



## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

gpop said:


> Get with the times.
> 
> Signs indicating low overhead clearance and paint on the floor would help indicate where the hazard is with out looking up to find it.
> Light beam sensors hooked to a loud siren 4 feet either side of the duct and a Video camera in the area will also help.


This is your way forward. Build your cage out of photo arrays. Very loud sirens will annoy the drivers enough that they will learn on their own how to avoid them. This is in your wheelhouse. Unless you are actually a millwright that has snuck into the forum, then by all means, build a metal cage.


----------



## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

OffGrid187 said:


> How low is this bus duct? I generally never see it below 10 feet or thereabouts.


Offtopic but just to let you know Ive been in a place that had bus duct you could reach up and touch. It wasnt even solid case bus duct but instead was cased in a grated metal with holes plenty big enough to admit fingers. They had forktrucks running all over. Maybe the key is just better drivers.


----------



## jbfan (Jan 22, 2007)

We had buss at 30 feet and made lints on the reach trucks so they could go that high. We also never allowed double stacking on the trucks because it was unsafe.

Has someone hit the buss? I bet they only do it one time!


----------



## didntdoit (Jun 18, 2020)

gpop said:


> Get with the times.
> 
> Signs indicating low overhead clearance and paint on the floor would help indicate where the hazard is with out looking up to find it.
> Light beam sensors hooked to a loud siren 4 feet either side of the duct and a Video camera in the area will also help.


 I like this idea, easier to guard the emitter receiver combo.
A plus if already have any on hand.


----------

