Standard structural profilesI-beams, channels, angles, tubes, rods and flat bar from the catalog.View the product Case study· Industrial
F1 Factory Access Staircase, Built From Our Own FRP Profiles
A multi-level access stair in our Chongqing plant, built from our own FRP profiles and molded grating and bolted together by four people during a 3-day shutdown.
FIG. 1 Stair and platformProject photo
The challenge
Our Chongqing production base needed a multi-level access staircase and platform linking the pultrusion-line mezzanine to the fibre creel area. It sits above the resin impregnation zone, where humidity, resin vapour and the occasional chemical splash rule out painted carbon steel; the galvanized steel stairs there had to be recoated every 18 months and still rusted. The replacement had to resist corrosion, insulate electrically (live cabinets are within 2 m), meet the factory's fire-retardant class and go in during a 3-day shutdown without hot-work permits.
What F1 supplied
We built the whole stair from our own pultruded FRP profiles, the same ones customers buy. Stringers and landing beams are FRP I-beams and square tubes in vinyl ester resin for chemical resistance. The intermediate platforms are molded FRP grating with a gritted anti-slip surface (AS 4586 R11). Handrails and kick plates are pultruded round tube and flat bar in safety-orange, UV-stabilised polyester resin. Every connection is a 316L stainless-steel bolt through pre-drilled profiles, so there was no welding, no hot work and no crane. Four people assembled it with hand tools inside the 3-day window.
FIG. 2 Stringers and frameProject photo
FIG. 3 Stair flight from belowProject photo
FIG. 4 Beam-to-post connectionProject photo
FIG. 5 Bolted connectionProject photo
Results
The installed stair weighs about 68 % less than the steel structure it replaced, so the existing concrete pad was reused without strengthening. Like any structure, it still needs periodic inspection of connections, surfaces and supports. Because it is in our own plant, visiting customers can walk it, load it and inspect the connections and wear since it was installed in 2024.
- Weight reduction
- 68%
- Stainless bolts
- 316L
- Install window
- 3-day
- Installers, hand tools only
- 4
Products used 3 product families
- Standard structural profilesI-beams, channels, angles, tubes, rods and flat bar from the catalog.View the product
Molded FRP gratingTwo-way mesh panels for walkways, platforms and stairs.View the product 
Custom pultruded profilesSections developed for the project on their own tooling.View the product
Industrial industryAll pultruded FRP profilesFRP vs steel and aluminumWhat is FRP?All case studies
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