Advantages, Disadvantages and Comparisons of Scaffolding with Practical Demonstration of Façade and Safety Scaffold Installation

Scaffolding has been used for almost a millennium as load-bearing structures, as an aid in carrying out various works at height, in the construction of bridges and viaducts, in the automotive industry, in the construction and repair of ships, and the list could go on. Findings: ** Hypothesis 1:** Construction workers can carry out work with higher quality, greater safety, more quickly and at lower cost with the help of various types of construction scaffolding. This hypothesis has been fully confirmed, as today it is difficult to imagine working at height in construction without scaffolding.

Solution and Method

Scaffolding has been used for almost a millennium as load-bearing structures, as an aid in carrying out various works at height, in the construction of bridges and viaducts, in the automotive industry, in the construction and repair of ships, and the list could go on. In construction, scaffolding is most frequently encountered when carrying out masonry, façade, carpentry and painting works. Scaffolding appears throughout history; it was already used in Egypt for the construction of buildings and the processing of columns as mobile scaffolding, in the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and Crete for the construction of aqueducts with which cities were supplied with water; during Roman times, scaffolding was used to assist in building and processing.

Not long afterwards, they began to be used for the construction of bridges and viaducts, domes in churches and various auxiliary structures around the world. Throughout all the years of development of construction scaffolding, their function has not changed, as we still cannot carry out work at heights without them. Due to different needs, diverse types of scaffolding have been developed, made from different types of materials.

From the first wooden scaffolding, which accompanied their predecessors, until the mid-1960s, when steel scaffolding largely replaced wooden ones. Nowadays we use many types of scaffolding, ranging from simple and mobile scaffolding for internal works, to suspended and lifting scaffolding for external works. Every smaller company owns its own construction scaffolding, as this enables them to carry out their work competitively, more quickly and with higher quality.

Larger construction companies have several different types of construction scaffolding, which they use for different works on sites. Scaffolding must be maintained and stored correctly; for this we need large storage spaces and a responsible site manager to look after them. For quality assembly of construction scaffolding, we need good, trained and educated site managers and fitters.

For all those for whom such an investment is not financially viable, there are companies that deal with the hire and assembly of modular scaffolding on site. In construction, we cannot avoid working at height, but we can prepare better for it. Because such work represents a great danger to the worker, different types of training must be completed for work of varying difficulty.

Despite excellent training, the worker must also undergo medical examinations to determine whether they are fit for work at height and whether their health permits it. For this reason, various measures must be continuously pursued to improve conditions for ensuring safety and health at work.

Results

Findings: ** Hypothesis 1:** Construction workers can carry out work with higher quality, greater safety, more quickly and at lower cost with the help of various types of construction scaffolding. This hypothesis has been fully confirmed, as today it is difficult to imagine working at height in construction without scaffolding. In general, construction scaffolding is found on almost every construction site in front of the building and also inside the building, for almost all works. ** Hypothesis 2:** The installation of construction scaffolding is quick and simple, as basic scaffolding systems consist of only five elements.

This hypothesis has proved to be only partially correct, as some type systems consist of a large number of component elements, which means demanding and lengthy assembly, properly trained personnel, good organisation, a large number of spare scaffold parts and a large storage space for different parts. On the other hand, we have façade and construction scaffolding, whose basic component parts number five, and which are installed quickly and simply and thus contribute to improved work every day. Hypothesis 3: Different construction materials are equivalent to each other.

This hypothesis has been almost fully confirmed, as three construction materials appear in different type scaffolding (hot-dip galvanised steel, aluminium and wood). The only exceptions are scaffolding intended for heavy construction work and which must withstand high loads. There is also scaffolding made of aluminium, which is considerably lighter for assembly, but does not perform as well as the other two construction elements, which are more stable and durable.