An important component of any pallet racking system that we haven’t discussed yet is anchoring. There are a few different types of anchors, and different conditions in the facility will change the sizes and other details. In this post, I’ll be going through the basics on anchoring your pallet rack.
The most common type of anchor is the wedge anchor. It is inserted into a drilled hole, then pounded in and fixed with a washer and nut. This anchor can’t be removed if you decide to rearrange your pallet rack. You will have to remove the rack and then saw off the top of the anchor so that it is flush with the floor. Another anchor type is the screw anchor. This one is much less common, but if you are planning on moving your system, you can remove and reuse this screw. A couple of other options are chemical anchors and adhesive anchors, which involve a substance being poured into the hole along with the bolt.
Wedge Anchor Bolt
When you get your warehouse permitted, they will tell you how deep the anchors must be embedded, and the size to use. The most commonly used size is ½” x 3 ¾” to go with a standard sized footplate. However, the size can change depending on the height of the rack, the seismic requirements, and the slab the rack will be anchored to. Generally, the slab size will be six inches.
Example Drawing of Anchoring Details
Although the footplate will have two holes in it, they are there for different options of bolt placement, not to anchor the rack in two places. Usually you would just put one bolt in it, since they are so close together, they could hit each other or compromise the concrete in between.
Contact us if you need information on permitting and different anchoring options for your pallet rack system.
