Loading Gangways
Truck & Railcar Gangways
Summers Rubber carries Safe Harbor’s truck and railcar gangways, raised platforms designed as a passageway from one area to another. Safe Harbor Gangways are designed for a wide range of vehicle / railcar heights and variances. Gangways can be retrofitted to your existing structures and customized to suit your specific application; which is excellent for older platforms that were not designed for today’s taller railcars. These are perfect for warehouses and rail yards allowing employees to pass safely between areas without entering into unsafe or “no entry” zones.
Loading Gangway Features
- Lifting of manual units assisted by feather light spring counter-balance
- Built for harsh and high use environments
- Locks automatically in the upright position with a positive foot lock mechanism
- Rugged quality bumpers on the bottom of unit for vehicle protection
- Variety of standard widths from 20″ to 60″ available
- 500 lbs. load capacity to accommodate potential emergency rescue efforts
- Pipe handrails standard to provide a more secure environment for truck and barge operators
- Stainless steel hardware and bronze oil impregnated bushings are provided for all pivot points to ensure long-lasting performance
Aluminum Truck Gangways
Summers Rubber can order custom fabricated truck and railcar gangways in various materials, such as aluminum, stainless steel, and galvanized steel. For loading gangways in industrial and commercial marine settings, Safe Harbor recommends the use of marine-grade aluminum. Several benefits of aluminum truck gangways include:
- Lightweight & durability
- Lower maintenance requirements
- Ideal for loading, unloading and inspecting & repairing vessels
- Excellent corrosion resistance
Telescoping Gangway
Primarily used for railcar applications where vehicle height is fairly uniform. Our telescoping extension helps to close the gap for narrow railcars and trucks. All of our systems are custom made to fit your specific application.
Telescoping Gangway (TLS) Features & Benefits
- Working range of 15 degrees below horizontal and 15 degrees above horizontal
- Equipped with our standard 22″ telescoping extension
- Self-supporting with a 500lb. load capacity
- High performance and safety locking extension
- 1 1/4″ SCH. 40 pipe provides added comfort and increased strength
- Oversized safety yellow top and mid rails provide operator comfort and high visibility
- Spring counterbalance with chemical resistant cover
- Galvanized base tread provides added strength
- 4 bolt flange bearing at the main pivot point provides strength and ease of movement, ideal for high use applications
- Modular base tread allows for quick installation helping to minimize downtime
- Open serrated walk surface helps to maximize footing and minimize water, product, and ice accumulation
Flat Ramp Gangways
Summers Rubber Company carries Safe Harbor’s FLT model flat ramp gangway. Primarily used for hopper car and hopper truck applications where vehicle height is uniform. All of our systems are custom made to fit your specific application.
Flat Ramp Gangway Features & Benefits
- Working range of 15 degrees below horizontal and 15 degrees above horizontal
- Self supporting with a 500lb. load capacity
- High performance and safety locking extension
- 1 1/4″ SCH. 40 pipe provides added comfort and increased strength
- Oversized safety yellow top and midrails provide opertator comfort and high visibility
- Spring counter balance with chemical resistant cover
- Galvanized base tread provices added strength
- Equipped with our standard 22″ telescoping extension
- 4 bolt flange bearing at the main pivot point provides strength and ease of movement, ideal for high use applications
- Modular base tread allows for quick installaion helping to minimize downtime
- Open serrated walk surface helps to maximize footing and minimize water, product, and ice accumulation
Self Leveling Tread Gangways
Safe Harbor’s SLT model is a versatile self adjusting stair system (SAS) built with variations of treads and safety in mind. Our self leveling gangways are engineered with the utmost versatility to accommodate variations in height that typically occur while accessing liquid tank trucks. All of our systems are custom made to fit your specific application.
Self Leveling Gangway Features & Benefits
- Working range of 45 degrees below horizontal and 50 degrees above horizontal
- Self supporting with a 500lb. load capacity
- 4 bolt nickle plated flange bearing at the main pivot point
- Double extended end tread provides operator larger safe zone and helps to eliminate the operator from having to stand on top of the vehicle
- Oversized powder coated top rail and midrail painted safety yellow for high visibility
- Oil impregnated bronze bushings at all intermediate pivot points provides smooth operation and extends gangway life
- Galvanized base tread provides added stregnth
- Modular base tread allows for quick installation helping to minimize downtime
- Pneumatic and hydraulic assist avaialble (all models). Spring counter balance standard.
- Open serrated walk surface helps to maximize footing and minimize water, product, and ice accumulated
- Industrial rubber “D” bumber protects the vehicle from damage
Loading Arm Systems
OPW offers the most complete line of loading arm systems and loading-rack equipment for today’s bulk loading and unloading requirements. Loading arm systems allow the transfer of gas or liquefied gas from one tank to another through a pipe system. When transferring gas, you will need both a bottom and top loading arm. Whether the application involves tank trucks, railcars, drums or totes, and the moving of petroleum products, liquefied gases, asphalt, solvents or hazardous/corrosive chemicals, OPW Engineered Systems is the preferred loading arm system choice worldwide.
OPW Advantage:
- Unmatched 120-Year Heritage
- Unparalleled Product Reliability
- Unbeatable Customer Care
- Unrivaled Resources and Capabilities
- Made in America
Top Loading Arms
Top Loading Arms for tankers, railcars and trucks continue to provide an efficient and cost-effective method to load and unload in many situations.
A top loading system should have sufficient horizontal range to reach the farthest compartment without re-spotting the vehicle. Sufficient vertical movement and drop-pipe lengths to service vehicles of varying heights is also necessary. A properly designed top loading system can achieve this requirement. Top loading arms can also be used for tight-fill and vapor recovery applications when used with specially designed and engineered components, such as vapor plates, tapered hatch plugs, and inflatable hatch seals.
Special top loading arm designs can also be supplied with a wide range of valves, fittings, and instrumentation equipment.
Bottom Loading Arms
Summer’s Rubber supplies OPW Bottom Loading Arm Systems that are ideal for loading and unloading petroleum products, chemicals and liquefied gases, and offer numerous benefits over conventional top-loading systems:
Bottom Loading Arms Features & Benefits
- Improved safety since operator remains on the ground during loading/unloading
- Quicker connections reduce overall loading/unloading time
- Bottom loading systems create less turbulence in the tank, reducing the danger of generating static electricity.
- Bottom loading reduces vapors and the system can be adapted to also recover displaced vapors
- Tanks can be filled faster and several compartments can be loaded simultaneously
- Bottom-loading islands are simpler and cheaper to build than top-loading racks
Custom Loading Arms
Summer’s Rubber knows that as industries have become more aware and responsive to environmental issues, loading systems offer a sound solution to the extremely critical process of transferring hazardous products from bulk-storage tanks to rail or road vehicles. Custom loading arms are manufactured with regard to the unique application and custom-design specifications of the customer.
Within the limits of design and functionality, nothing is too special. As industries have become more aware and responsive to environmental issues, loading systems offer a sound solution to the extremely critical process of transferring hazardous products from bulk storage tanks to rail or road vehicles. All units can be factory pre-assembled and tested, and all OPW Engineered Systems products are built to the highest quality standards.
Considerations For Design
- Liquid product to be handled (temperature and pressure)
- Type of tank or container to be used
- Flow rate
- Adequate capacity without excessive pressure drop
- Physical facility dimensions and limitations
- Adequate horizontal and vertical range
- Ease of operation/maintenance
- Special requirements
- Factory pre-assembly and testing
- Cost
