Steel Walkways & Access Platforms

When people or maintenance teams need safe access at height or around equipment, we fabricate steel walkways, gantries and platforms to suit. Open-mesh or plate flooring, handrails, kick plates and access ladders or stairs are all built in.

Every platform is designed around your layout, loading and the relevant access and edge-protection standards, so it is safe and compliant in use. We handle awkward, existing-building situations as readily as new installations.

What we make

• Industrial walkways linking plant, machinery and buildings, at ground level or at height.
• Gantries and crossovers that take people over conveyors, pipework or production lines.
• Access and maintenance platforms around tanks, silos, boilers, presses and roof plant.
• Roof walkways that keep maintenance traffic off fragile roof sheets.
• Loading and inspection platforms for vehicle, rail and loading-bay access.
• Stairs and ladders to reach them, from straight steel staircases to fixed cat ladders with safety hoops.

Flooring options

Open-mesh grating is the usual choice for industrial walkways. It sheds water, oil and snow, lets light through, and gives a good grip. Serrated grating adds grip where floors get wet or greasy.

Chequer plate (durbar plate) gives a solid floor where tools or small parts mustn't fall through, or where people work underneath. It can be combined with grating on the same walkway.

The flooring panels are sized to the span and load, and fixed with clips so they can be lifted for maintenance where needed.

Edge protection

Open edges get guardrails with a mid rail and a toe board, so people and objects can't fall. Gates, self-closing access points and chains are added where a walkway meets a ladder or loading point. On machinery and plant, access is normally designed to BS EN ISO 14122, which covers working platforms, walkways, stairs, guardrails and fixed ladders. In buildings, Approved Document K sets the guarding requirements.

Loading and design

A walkway is designed for the people, tools and materials it will carry, and for anything it supports, such as pipework or cable trays. We work from your engineer's design, or coordinate the structural design for you, and fix to steel, concrete or existing structure as the site allows.

Existing buildings are often the hardest part. We survey on site and design around obstructions, so the steel arrives ready to bolt together with little or no welding on site. That keeps hot work, downtime and disruption to a minimum in a live factory or plant room.

Finishes

Most external and industrial walkways are hot-dip galvanised for a long, low-maintenance life. Powder coating can be added on top for safety colours or to match a building. Internal platforms can be painted.

Why J&N

• Designed, fabricated and installed by one team, from survey to sign-off.
• Fabricated in our Peterlee workshop to UKAS-approved EN1090-1 Execution Level 3.
• SafeContractor approved, and used to working in live industrial sites.
• Work across the North East and the wider UK.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a walkway and a gantry? The terms overlap. A walkway is any fixed route for people to walk along. A gantry usually means a raised walkway or bridge spanning over something, such as a conveyor, road or production line.

Galvanised or painted? For outdoor or industrial use, galvanised. It protects the steel inside and out and needs very little upkeep. Paint suits dry internal areas.

Can you install without shutting down production? Usually, yes. Fabricating in sections and bolting together on site keeps installation short, and we can plan around shutdowns, weekends or quiet periods.

Do you supply just the stairs or ladders? Yes. We make access stairs, cat ladders and handrails on their own as well as complete platforms. Tell us about your site.