Product Update! AliDeck aluminium decking boards pass new deflection and load testing in-line with BS8579:2020, AliDeck Senior Board now spans up to 1200mm

Further to our recent load testing for our AliRail Juliet and AliRail Vertical Infill Balustrade, we are delighted to now share deflection testing results achieved by our Senior, Junior and XL aluminium decking boards. The headline news, though, is that our Senior Board is now confirmed to span up to 1200mm!

The British Standard BS8579:2020, the guide to the design of balconies and terraces, requires that “for occupant comfort” the “pedestrian surface” (ie, the decking boards) deflects no more than 5mm under a 2.0kN point load.

This was the first time that decking board deflection was directly addressed in any Standard, so it was great news for our industry to have a clear performance value to achieve. We subjected our aluminium decking range to testing to this requirement at the earliest opportunity last year and the results achieved informed our recommended maximum spans.

As part of our continual innovation and refinement of our products, though, we subsequently redeveloped our board profiles significantly to achieve higher strength, so re-testing was required to confirm span performance. The results are as follows;

With the Senior Board confirmed to now span up to 1200mm, this is a huge boon for our customers and will directly lead to major savings on projects as decking underside support is able to be reduced.

The new profile design for this board includes additional aluminium at key points of the profile to promote rigidity and increase strength. These discreet additions are not visible when the board is installed, being completely on the underside and internals of the profile, maintaining the excellent aesthetics of the Senior Board.

Further good news is the confirmation that our double-height, 60mm XL Board is able to span a huge 1800mm between supports! This proves the XL Board as the longest-spanning aluminium decking board available and will help developers and fabricators make substantial savings on cost and material as they streamline their balcony and terrace designs accordingly.

Finally, the Junior Board was re-confirmed as comfortably spanning 800mm, establishing our popular 20mm decking board as leader in its class and outperforming our competitors’ like-for-like offerings significantly.

Full test result data for the Senior, Junior and XL Boards is available in the following gallery, click the images to enlarge.