FRP is Udderly Amazing for Farms
In new and older dairy barns, concrete is prevalently used for flooring surfaces because it is durable, economical, and can be finished to ensure adequate traction for the hooves and gaits of cows. In addition, research has shown that proper flooring system designs for barns can be a preventative measure against the occurrence of injury throughout herd populations.
One preventative measure against injury is to design flooring systems with trench cover grating. This ensures that cows will have a flooring surface with proper traction, drainage, and structural durability and owners will have efficient ways of mitigating the removal of manure and liquids produced by the herd.
A barn operator worked with The Westfall Company to acquire DURAGRID® 1-1/2" pultruded grating for a new barn in 2010 after researching the extensive corrosion issues of steel grating when exposed to manure, urine, water, and cleaning solvents. In addition, the operator noticed that cows seemed to have high occurrences of aversion to walking on steel grating. Although stainless steel grating is resistant to corrosion, it is expensive and lacks adequate slip resistance compared to pultruded grating.
The farm transitioned into 1-1/2" DURAGRID® HD-6000 grating to better accommodate nonvehicular traffic over the flooring surfaces in the indoor barn area. To sanitize these congregation areas, the farm utilizes a flush water system that exposes certain areas up to 10,000 gallons of water per minute paired with cleaning agents.
| TECHNICAL DATA |
|---|
| Product: Trench Cover Grating |
| Process: Pultrusion, Fabrication |
| Materials & Sizes: DURAGRID® 1-1/2" HD-6000 pultruded grating |
| For: The Westfall Company |
| User: A dairy barn operator |
Due to cows having a limited depth perception and sensory comfort, the minimal spacing between grating bars and the embedded pigment that matches the color of the established concrete floor makes for easier hoof transition from one surface material to another.
Since the installation of DURAGRID® HD-6000, the dairy farm has been pleased with the long-term replacement cycles of the FRP grating panels (3-5 years) compared to less than a year with metallics. In addition, when replacement is necessary, the FRP grating panels can be quickly and easily cut and fabricated onsite without the use of special tools and without exposing any part of the pasture to sparks or flames.