<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">In addition to the excellent advice already offered about shelf material, floor loading, etc., there is also the issue of how weight is distributed on the shelf. <br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">When the weight is more or less evenly distributed (e.g., in boxes of similar shape) shelves may behave differently than when the weight is concentrated on one end or in the middle. We encountered this problem in selecting shelving for the Fluid Collections Research Facility at the University of Kansas back in the 1990s when we discovered that despite the weight capacity rating of the shelves, some shelves bent when loaded with jars of specimens if the weight was not evenly distributed. Therefore, in the specifications for shelving, we specified both a weight capacity (we selected 500 pounds per shelf, based on the maximum potential weight of the jars we could fit on the shelf) and also that the shelves must not flex (bend) more than 1/8 of an inch when fully loaded. We were able to purchase shelves that met these requirements and they worked fine. I have heard stories from other collections that had steel shelves bend under unevenly distributed weight loads.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">--John</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Associate Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br><i>and</i><br>Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 11:14 AM Gali Beiner <<a href="mailto:gali.beiner@mail.huji.ac.il">gali.beiner@mail.huji.ac.il</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Hello Joosep,<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Adding to Carrie's notes:</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">1. The floor carrying capacity is also important. If your shelving is planned for a floor other than the basement, the floor carrying capacity will vary considerably, depnding on the consruction specifics of the building. A consrtuction engineer should be able to give you an estimate of that. In our case, the university construction maintenance personnel guided us re: possibility of setting up this or that type of shelving in specific locations. It wasn't as simple as it sounds because our building wasn't new so we had to change some of our original shelving plans due to estimated floor carrying capacity. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">2. Type of shelving matters also in terms of static vs. moving (compactor) shelving. The way the type of shelving interacts with the floor carrying capacity is what you need to know so you can determine the safe maximum load per square meter.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">3. Prior to installing new shelving (in our case, compactors in basement floors) I chose several shelves with extra heavy loads in our old collection storage system and actually weighed everything on these shelves to determine real numbers of maximum weight our shelves would be required to carry. We dealt both with wet and dry collections, so the (maximum) weight per shelf in each collection type could vary considerably. You could do the same to determine your own requirements, take 10 shelves or so, weigh their contents and round upward the highest numbers as your minimum weight capacity guideline.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Hope this helps,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Gali</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">בתאריך יום ג׳, 17 באוג׳ 2021, 17:47, מאת Carrie A. Eaton <<a href="mailto:carrie@geology.wisc.edu" target="_blank">carrie@geology.wisc.edu</a>>:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Hi Joosep,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">The load capacity is largely driven by the material from which the shelf is made (steel, I assume?) but a big portion of what controls the shelf’s carrying capacity is the post construction (the uprights that
hold the shelf) and how that load is transferred to the floor. You also have to take in account the weight of the shelf itself. So a steel shelf with a 500lb capacity and 100lb of steel decking that makes up the shelf would only hold 400lb of objects. Having
just dealt with some difficulties with inadequate load capacities, I would highly encourage you to inquire with the manufacturer and get a good estimate of the shelf’s carrying capacity before putting objects on it. This was also save your back the trouble
of having to lift objects multiple times. Best of luck!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Cheers,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Carrie<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Carrie Eaton, Museum Curator<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">UW Geology Museum<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">1215 West Dayton Street<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">Madison, WI 53706<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">608.262.4912<br>
</span><b><i><span style="color:rgb(0,112,192)">twitter @uwgeologymuseum<br>
<a href="http://facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum</a></span></i></b><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<div style="border-color:rgb(225,225,225) currentcolor currentcolor;border-style:solid none none;border-width:1pt medium medium;padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Nhcoll-l [mailto:<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Joosep Sarapuu<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, August 17, 2021 9:40 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Joosep Sarapuu <<a href="mailto:Joosep.Sarapuu@loodusmuuseum.ee" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Joosep.Sarapuu@loodusmuuseum.ee</a>>; NHCOLL-new <<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelves load capasity<u></u><u></u></p>
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</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)" lang="ET">Sorry, I forgot to add what collections are on the shelves. We need these shelves for bones and horns. And the other ones are for stuffed animals and for fluid collections.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)" lang="ET"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)" lang="ET">Sincerely,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)" lang="ET">Joosep Sarapuu<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)" lang="ET"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="ET">From:</span></b><span lang="ET"> Nhcoll-l [<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Joosep Sarapuu<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, August 17, 2021 5:35 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> NHCOLL-new <<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Nhcoll-l] Shelves load capasity<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">Dear all,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">I think some of you have been already had this situation before.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">We are going to have a new shelves for our collection rooms and we would like to know what should be the load capasity for shelves. Our shelves sizes are 100x59cm.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">Can somebody give me estimate load capasity for these ones?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">Sincerely,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET">Joosep Sarapuu<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ET"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of<br>
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mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of<br>
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to<br>
society. See <a href="http://www.spnhc.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.spnhc.org</a> for membership information.<br>
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