04.06.2010

Oil barrel scaffold

Sent to us from Algeria, a man needing a scaffold with a platform height of around six metres but only having two frames found a way to extend it all the way to the work.

However the result, as ingenious as it may be is far from safe even considering the standards of the country. Most definitely a Death Wish.
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The makeshift scaffold in action

The base frames look as though they have been counterweighted, sadly there are no braces for the frames so they are not braced. Next up a couple of planks to form a platform and on top of that two 45 gallon oil drums. topped by two more planks. Looks as though there is a small diagonal brace here in the form of a block of wood then two more oil drums with a wooden horizontal brace.

These two drums are topped with what appears to be two large stone blocks, but perhaps they are packing cases? They are neatly sandwiched between some wood planking. Then the main platform with the proud erector – more planks.
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Then another oil barrel with planks resting on a balcony – maybe as a form of combined tie-in and high level access point?

Guardrails, toeboards? Get real our man clearly trusts the platform enough to use it but clearly he needs to have excellent balance and it is hard to imagine that there is any rigidity to this tower of Babel?