Factory and warehouse live load survey

A major field survey of live loads in factories and warehouses in Ghana is reported. The survey was carried out as part of a study to establish a national code for design loads which are relevant for local application. Statistical computations of the moments that characterise the behaviour of the loads are given. The sustained loads are then synthesised with equivalent extraordinary loads through a stochastic model to arrive at fractiles of the total lifetime maximum equivalent uniformly distributed load. These values are then compared with corresponding U.K. and Danish code values. A significant correlation is found and the relevance of the study to structural design is stated.