Beyond Standard Towers

Since the US Army called for a 200ft tower in 1948 there has always been a demand for nonstandard towers, or “Specials” as they have colloquially been known. Aluminium towers because of their light but strong design lend themselves to jobs where speed is of the essence. This demand has ebbed and flowed over the years depending on demand and on the changes in legislation. These structures can be built to greater heights and adapted to reach more awkward locations than users of standard towers can be expected to cope with. This demand led both Access equipment and UpRight to develop design teams and additional components back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, led Martin Thomas to develop their hire and assembly network and more recently led to the development of PASMA’s hire and assembly membership. Hire and assembly members must supply that has third party certification to EN1004, is accompanied by the manufacturers instruction manual together with a design and method statement for a specific structure. Members are audited annually.

BS1139 part 6 was promoted by PASMA as a means to encourage the safe use of façade scaffolds, cantilevers, Pavement frames and Link towers.