Working Platform Design & Verification Course
February 18 and March 4, 2026 or September 23 and October 7, 2026 | Online
The design and construction of temporary working platforms and their access tracks is required to safely operate piling rigs and cranes. However, temporary working platforms can add significant costs to construction projects and it is therefore important to optimize their design and construction methods. Specialist piling or ground improvement contractors can win or lose projects based on their working platform requirements and the associated cost, program and safety implications can vary tremendously, depending on various parameters which are briefly discussed in this webinar.
The design and construction of safe and efficient temporary working platforms require a detailed understanding of the plant loads applied through tracks and/ or outriggers. Such loads can vary with different activities like standing, tracking, lifting, drilling or extracting of piling augers. The assessment of such pressures is complex and typically requires experienced personnel with in-depth knowledge of the different operational modes of different piling and/ or lifting operations.
Such load inputs are critical for the working platform design. However, the subsurface conditions are as important as the load inputs and they must be sufficiently understood by the temporary working platform designer in order to correctly select the geotechnical design parameters.
The platform design can be carried out by following different approaches and the presentation will briefly introduce two common design methods (BRE470 and TWF2024).
After the successful construction of the platform, suitable verification methods are applied to provide evidence that the platform was built to meet the required design criteria and after the successful verification a platform certificate can be issued to the piling contractor/ crane supplier to confirm safe operations under the given load/ subgrade assumptions.
The first part of the webinar provides a brief overview about the steps which are typically required to assess track pressures and to design safe and economical temporary working platforms.
The second part of the webinar will cover various examples of track pressure assessments and working platform designs in a 2 hour block.
This course will discuss the following topics:
- Load inputs for working platform designs and how they can be estimated (FPS method)
- Introduction of the different stages of working platform design
- Importance of reliable substrata/ ground assessments
- Methods to assess geotechnical design parameters for platform designs
- Introduction of two common design methods for temporary working platforms (BRE470 & TWF2024)
- Working platform verification methods and why they are important
Who should attend?
This course is suitable for experienced temporary works and geotechnical engineers looking for a refresher; or as an introduction to working platform designs and verification for participants with limited or no experience in this area. Roles include:
- Geotechnical engineers
- Civil engineers
- Structural engineers
- Temporary works designers
- Site managers
- Project engineers
- Project managers
- Construction managers
- Professionals from piling and crane companies
Instructor
Martin Larisch is a Chartered Professional Engineer in Australia and New Zealand with more than 25 years of international design and construction experience in the piling and ground engineering sector. He is based in New Zealand and assists clients in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific with temporary work designs, design reviews, constructability assessments and independent expert services.
Before he started his own independent Engineering Consultancy Firm in New Zealand in 2023, he worked in various technical and operational leadership roles for some of the largest specialist piling, ground improvement contractors and general contractors in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. During this time, he gained significant experience in the design and verification of temporary working platforms for piling rigs and cranes including the assessment of the bearing pressures for tracked piling rigs and crawler cranes.
He was affiliated with The University of Queensland in Brisbane as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Geotechnical Engineering Centre from 2014 to 2021.
Martin is a current member of the EFFC/DFI Concrete and Working Platforms Task Groups.
Professional Development Hours (PDHs)
The course is presented in two sessions. Attendees will receive 4 PDH credits at the completion of both sessions of the course.