[Nhcoll-l] Shelves load capasity

Tue Aug 17 11:23:20 EDT 2021

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.

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.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima

On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 11:14 AM Gali Beiner <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>
wrote:

> Hello Joosep,
>
> Adding to Carrie's notes:
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Gali
>
> בתאריך יום ג׳, 17 באוג׳ 2021, 17:47, מאת Carrie A. Eaton ‏<
> carrie at geology.wisc.edu>:
>
>> Hi Joosep,
>>
>> 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!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Carrie
>>
>>
>>
>> Carrie Eaton, Museum Curator
>>
>> UW Geology Museum
>>
>> 1215 West Dayton Street
>>
>> Madison, WI 53706
>>
>> 608.262.4912
>>
>> *twitter @uwgeologymuseum facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum
>> <http://facebook.com/uwgeologymuseum>*
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Nhcoll-l [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] *On Behalf
>> Of *Joosep Sarapuu
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 17, 2021 9:40 AM
>> *To:* Joosep Sarapuu <Joosep.Sarapuu at loodusmuuseum.ee>; NHCOLL-new <
>> nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] Shelves load capasity
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Joosep Sarapuu
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Nhcoll-l [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu
>> <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Joosep Sarapuu
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 17, 2021 5:35 PM
>> *To:* NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Shelves load capasity
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I think some of you have been already had this situation before.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> Can somebody give me estimate load capasity for these ones?
>>
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Joosep Sarapuu
>>
>>
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> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
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