Ladle Walkway Handrail Rebonding

The challenge

On a steel-mill ladle walkway, the handrail stanchions had corroded at the base where they meet the deck. The fastenings rusted out and the metal around the anchor points thinned, so the stanchions worked loose and the handrail moved under hand load. A handrail that flexes is a fall hazard over a hot, active part of the plant, and the walkway surface itself had worn slick. The owner needed the handrail made fast and the footing made safe, but the walkway sits in live structure where welding sparks and a hot-work permit were not workable.

Our approach

We treat this as a cold repair so no welding goes near the live structure. We clean the corroded stanchion bases and the deck around each anchor point back to sound metal. We rebuild the lost metal and the worn anchor seats with a Belzona 1000 Series composite, then rebond and set the stanchions so they are held fast without rewelding. Once the fixtures are anchored, we lay an anti-slip surfacing across the walkway with a 4000 Series system so the footing matches the repair. The crew works the walkway in sections so the rest of the route stays usable.

1. Assess and mapWe inspect each stanchion and its anchor point to find the loose fixtures, the corroded bases, and the worn deck around them.
2. Surface prepWe clean the stanchion bases and the surrounding deck back to sound, profiled metal so the composite bonds.
3. Rebuild and rebondWe rebuild the lost metal and worn anchor seats with a 1000 Series composite, then rebond and set the stanchions fast with no welding.
4. Lay anti-slip footingWe apply a 4000 Series anti-slip surfacing across the walkway so the footing is made safe along with the handrail.
5. Return to serviceWe let the systems cure, check that the stanchions are solid under load, and hand the walkway back to the crews.