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Guide · Crane runways

Overhead crane runway: how it carries load, where it fails, and when to choose it

Dubai, UAESources checked 26 September 2026Technical review pending

Sources, edition and review status 6 source documents
Applies to
Dubai, UAE
Covers
Crane runways · Portal frames · Building frames · Load paths · Loads · Fatigue · Members · Connections · Serviceability · Fabrication · Inspection
Based on
Dubai Building Code 2021 Parts A (A.5.1) and F (F.4.1, F.5.2 to F.5.4, F.6.5.4, F.7.1, F.7.5, F.8.1, F.8.3.1, F.8.3.3, F.8.9); ANSI/AISC 360-16 Chapters C, F, J (J3.1, J3.8, J10) and L, Appendices 3 and 6, as the Code references AISC 360; AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Clause 4 Part C; Trakhees steel framing checklist CF01ab; DDA Circular 614; SCI P399 (UK practice, cited for behaviour only)
Source check
AI-assisted check of the cited pages against the source documents, then a separate AI review of the guide, with each finding addressed. Numbers, tables and exceptions were read from the source pages. Corrected on 30 September 2026 after a separate AI check against the source pages: the stress categories the fatigue equation covers, which listed failures have an AISC 360 check, and the UK origin of the runway description; the corrected statements have had an author check only. Corrected on 11 and 12 October 2026 after separate AI checks against the source pages: the fatigue threshold and bolt stress-range wording and source locators; the corrected statements have had an author check only. No independent human engineering or legal review yet.
Status
Technical review pending. Later DBC amendments and circulars not audited.

How this library uses sources · Source notes for this guide

Short answer

An overhead crane runway is, as SCI P399 (UK practice) describes it, the steel track an overhead travelling crane rides on: rails on runway girders, carried by brackets on the building columns or by crane columns, with bracing that takes sideways and braking forces to the foundations.123 The answer continues below the drawing.

The reference structure

Overhead crane runway, step by step: its parts in a side elevation and a section, wheel loads that travel along the girders, the load path through the brackets to the column foundations with the columns bent at the brackets, a separate crane column as the alternative, surge across the runway, braking and end-stop impact into the braced bay, where fatigue cracks start, and eight numbered places where runways can fail Wheel loads Crane Runway girder End stop Braced bay Load path Section Surge Bracket Runway girder Rail Column Tie Crane travels along the runway Sags (exaggerated) Sags (exaggerated) Column bends here Crane column Twist Sways, exaggerated Braking Weld toe Welds 12345678

Close-up views

Illustrative and not to scale: no dimensions, and not a construction detail. The actual detail is designed by the project engineer.

Close-up of the runway girder on its bracket in section: the wheel load reaches the column off its centre, so the column also bends Wheel load Bracket holds the girder off the column's centre Column bends here Column

The girder on its bracket, wheel load (step 3)

  • The bracket holds the girder off the column's centre, so each wheel load also bends the column as the crane passes, as in step 3 of the overview.
Close-up of surge in section: a sideways push at rail level bends the girder's top flange and twists the girder, and the top-flange tie takes it into the column Surge at rail level Twists the girder Tie takes it into the column

Surge across the runway (step 5)

  • A sideways push at rail level acts above the girder's centre of twist, so it bends the top flange sideways and twists the girder.
  • The top-flange tie takes the push into the column; it must also let the girder end rotate and move.

Key: amber arrows are loads and amber dashes the load path; straight black arrows are reactions, the forces the supports give back; grey dashes and dots are shapes, exaggerated; shaded amber areas mark where the step’s effect is greatest; curved arrows show a turning effect (a moment or a twist); numbered rust circles are potential failure points.

Load cases shown one at a time: vertical wheel loads, surge across the runway, braking along it, and end-stop impact, a separate case drawn on the same path. Two runway girder spans on brackets fixed to the building columns, each span simply supported on its brackets, with a braced bay under the first span and an end stop at its end; column bases drawn as moment-resisting; the column top is tied into the roof frame, which the section does not show and which can itself sway. The section looks along the runway, with the crane bay to its left and the girder's top flange tied to the column; the separate crane column is drawn only as the alternative. The braking path is drawn through the braced-bay diagonal that is in tension for the direction shown; with tension-only bracing only that diagonal works, and which one it is changes with the direction of travel. Schematic: movement is exaggerated and not to scale, and no values are calculated.

  1. The runway Rails on two runway girder spans, carried on brackets fixed to the building columns, with an end stop at the runway end and a braced bay under the first span; the crane's end carriage rolls on the rail. On the right, a section through the girder, its tie to the column, the bracket and the column.
  2. Wheel loads that move Vertical load case: the lifted load and the crane's own weight reach the rail as wheel loads. The crane travels along the runway (an earlier position is drawn faint), so every span, and every point of the girder, carries the wheels in turn and sags as they pass.
  3. Load path to the foundations Same case: the rail spreads each wheel load into the girder's top flange, the girder spans to the brackets, and the brackets pass it to the columns, whose foundations hold them up. The bracket holds the girder off the column's centreline, so each pass also bends the column; its moment-resisting base and the roof frame resist that bending. In a portal frame this bending can change the gap between the two rails; SCI P399 describes the spread under crane loads, and the frame analysis gives its direction and size.
  4. Or a separate crane column Same case, another arrangement: on heavy runways the girder can sit on its own crane column (drawn faint in the section, with its bracket greyed out), which takes the wheel loads straight down to its foundation and avoids the bracket bending. It costs more steel, and the building column still holds it sideways.
  5. Surge across the runway Surge case, shown in the section: trolley starts and stops, and a crane running slightly out of square, push the wheels sideways at rail level, either way. Acting above the girder's centre of twist, the push bends the top flange sideways and twists the girder; the top-flange tie takes it into the column, whose foundation holds it, and the frame sways.
  6. Braking or end-stop impact Longitudinal cases, drawn together because they share a path: braking, where the crane pushes the rail the way it travels, and, as a separate case, impact on an end stop. Each pushes along the rail and girders to the braced bay, whose bracing takes the force down to the foundations, which take the shear and hold one braced-bay column down while the other bears on its base. End stops are small parts that can carry some of the largest single forces on a runway.
  7. Where fatigue cracks start Vertical load case, repeated: every wheel pass is a load cycle, so a runway is a fatigue structure. Cracks start where stress concentrates, such as stiffener weld toes near the tension flange, the web-to-flange welds under the rail, and the top-flange tie, which must let the girder end rotate and move.
  8. Potential failure points Where runways can fail if a check or detail is missed, numbered as in the list below: the girder web under a wheel, stiffener and flange welds, the top flange between supports, the rail and its clips, the bracket, the braced bay, the end stop, and the frame column. Schematic, not a prediction.

Numbered places where it can fail (the final step)

  1. Girder web under a wheel: local yielding and crippling
  2. Stiffener and flange welds: fatigue cracks
  3. Girder top flange between supports: sideways buckling and twist
  4. Rail and rail clips: loosening, wear and misalignment
  5. Bracket and its bolts or welds: fatigue and column bending
  6. Braced bay in the crane line: connection slip and brace buckling
  7. End stop: buffer impact at the runway end
  8. Frame column: rail spread and sway
Reference crane runway: a side elevation of two runway girder spans with the rail, an end stop, a crane end carriage and a braced bay, and a cross-section through girder, bracket and column. Diagram only, not to scale and with no design values.

Short answer, continued

The Dubai Building Code does not apply to cranes,4 but it names crane girders among the features that set deflection limits,5 and on our reading the runway is part of the building. Moving wheel loads make it a fatigue structure: the Code asks for members supporting vibrating machinery, vehicles or plant to be checked to Appendix 3 of AISC 360 where fatigue is critical,6 and AISC 360 evaluates fatigue once live load is applied more than 20,000 times.7 Typical failures that AISC 360 has a check for are a crushed girder web, fatigue cracks at welds and bolts, a twisting girder and loosening bolts;891011 in our summary, loose rails, slipping bracing, struck end stops and spreading rails complete the list. In our assessment a runway is chosen whenever loads must be placed anywhere in a bay; monorails, jib cranes, gantry cranes and floor handling are the alternatives.

What it is

Engineering explanation

An overhead travelling crane is a bridge that spans a bay and rolls along two rails, with a trolley and hoist that run across it. The rails sit on runway girders, also called gantry girders or crane beams, carried on brackets fixed to the building columns or on separate crane columns. In the UAE they are found in fabrication shops, stockyards, precast and pipe yards, workshops, power and desalination plants and heavy warehouses. The crane is the supplier’s machine; the girders, rails, clips, brackets, bracing and foundations are structure, and they are what this guide is about.

SCI P399, a UK portal-frame guide, describes the same arrangement: cranes run on rails fixed to runway beams spanning between the frame columns, carried on brackets fixed to the columns or on columns taken straight to the foundations.1 It is cited as UK practice, for description only.

How it carries load

Engineering explanation

Follow a lifted load to the ground. The hook load hangs from the trolley and bridge; the bridge rests on end carriages that bear on the rails through their wheels; each rail spreads its wheel loads into the top flange of the runway girder; the girder spans from column to column and hands its reactions to the bracket or crane column, and so down to the base and foundation. The trolley can stand anywhere across the bridge and the crane anywhere along the runway, so one side can carry most of the load and every span sees every wheel position.

Engineering explanation

Horizontal forces take other paths. Trolley starts and stops, and a bridge running slightly out of square, push the wheels sideways at rail level, above the girder’s centre of twist; that surge goes into the top flange or a surge girder and then into the columns. Braking along the runway, and any end-stop impact, run along the rail and girders to a braced bay in the crane line and down to the foundations. A runway therefore needs vertical, transverse and longitudinal load paths, each with its own weak links.

SCI P399 (UK practice) lists the actions an overhead crane applies to the frame: vertical loads from the payload and self-weight, horizontal loads from braking and acceleration (surge) and from skewing, where equal and opposite forces transverse to the rail act at the ends of the crane carriage, and impact from the vertical acceleration of a payload being lifted.1

The Dubai Building Code requires continuous load paths from the point where an action is applied to the ground, and requires the features critical to overall stability, including members that restrain critical compression members, to be identified and included in the design.12 Loads follow ASCE/SEI 7-16 and section F.7 of the Code, combined to Chapter 2 of ASCE/SEI 7-16,13 and concentrated live loads from machinery, vehicles and similar objects are evaluated.14 ASCE/SEI 7-16 is not held, so its crane-load provisions are not stated here.

Where and how it fails

Engineering explanation

1. Girder web under a wheel: local yielding and crippling. Each wheel pushes through the rail onto the top flange, and the thin web below must carry that concentrated force, most critically near the girder ends, where it also carries the support reaction. Because the wheel moves, a stiffener only helps where it happens to be.

Section J10 of AISC 360 covers single and double concentrated forces applied normal to the flanges of wide-flange and similar built-up shapes, and where the required strength exceeds the available strength, stiffeners or doublers are provided and sized for the difference.15 Web local yielding and web local crippling each have their own expressions, with a separate case for a force close to the member end: within the full member depth for yielding and within half the depth for crippling.8

Engineering explanation

2. Welds and stiffeners in the girder: fatigue cracks. Every wheel pass is a load cycle, and a busy crane can pass the 20,000-cycle trigger of AISC 3607 within its first year, as the worked example in this library’s crane runway guide shows. Cracks start where stress concentrates, such as the toe of a stiffener weld near the tension flange, the web-to-flange welds under the rail, weld ends and rough cut edges, and they grow slowly at stresses far below yield, with little warning before fracture.

Part F asks for members supporting vibrating machinery, vehicles or plant to be checked for fatigue, to Appendix 3 of AISC 360 where fatigue is critical, with details, workmanship and quality assurance tests fully defined.6 Appendix 3 determines the fatigue resistance of shapes and plate once live load is applied more than 20,000 times, needs no further evaluation below the threshold stress range FTH, and limits the stress from peak cyclic loads to 0.66Fy;7 stresses come from elastic analysis without stress-concentration factors, and, for stress categories A to E′, each detail’s allowable stress range follows from its category constant and the number of stress-range fluctuations in the design life (Eq. A-3-1M); category F uses Eq. A-3-2M.9

AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Clause 4 Part C, for cyclically loaded nontubular connections, gives the Engineer a duty to show complete details including weld sizes or the planned cycle life and maximum load ranges, needs no fatigue evaluation where the live load stress range is below the threshold stress range, and states its fatigue strengths for structures that are suitably protected against corrosion or in no more than mildly corrosive surroundings.16

Engineering explanation

3. Girder between supports: sideways buckling and twist. The top flange is in compression under the wheels and is pushed sideways by surge at rail level, above the centre of twist, so the girder bends both ways and twists. Runways are therefore given a wider top flange, a cap channel or a surge girder. Those choices make the girder singly symmetric, so the plain rolled-beam check no longer applies (see below). In the section drawing, the tie from the girder top flange to the column carries every surge pulse, yet it must let the girder end rotate and move along the runway as wheels pass; a tie that is too stiff cracks at its welds or bolts, a classic fatigue location (our explanation). The combined vertical bending, lateral bending of the top flange and torsion of a runway girder need a crane-runway design method that this library does not hold.

AISC 360 Section F2 applies only to doubly symmetric I-shaped members and channels, with compact webs and flanges, bent about their major axis; there the nominal flexural strength is the lower of yielding and lateral-torsional buckling, and lateral-torsional buckling does not govern when the unbraced length Lb is no more than Lp.10 A girder made singly symmetric by a wider top flange falls under Section F4 when its web is compact or noncompact, or Section F5 when its web is slender, and both check the compression flange for yielding, lateral-torsional buckling and local buckling, and the tension flange for yielding.1718 Non-HSS members under torsion and combined stress are checked under Section H3.3 for yielding under normal stress, shear yielding and buckling, with the buckling stress found by analysis.19 A cap-channel section is not named in these scopes; treating it as a singly symmetric I-shape under F4 or F5 is our reading, to be agreed with the reviewer.

Engineering explanation

4. Rail and rail clips: loosening, wear and misalignment. Clips or clamp plates hold the rail and let it be lined up. Wheel passes, braking and side thrust work them loose, and a misaligned rail makes wheel flanges bind and climb, raising side forces and wear. Welding the rail to the girder removes the adjustment and, in our assessment, creates a poor fatigue detail where the stress range is highest.

AISC 360 calls for pretensioned bolts wherever vibration could loosen a joint.11 Rail sections, clips and alignment tolerances come from the crane supplier and the project specification; no held document states them. In Trakhees areas, the steel structure framing inspection checklist checks that the crane runway girder, its dimensions and its installation comply with the approved drawings and specification, together with bolt tightening, and fabrication and erection tolerances against the national standard.20

Engineering explanation

5. Bracket and its connection to the column: fatigue and column bending. The bracket carries the girder reaction off the column centreline, so every pass bends the column, and the bracket welds or bolts see the full stress range. Snug-tight bolts can loosen and bracket weld toes crack; on heavy runways, independent crane columns avoid the bracket moment.

AISC 360 lets Group A bolts in tension, or in combined tension and shear, be left snug-tight only when neither vibration nor fluctuating load can loosen or fatigue them.11 Under Appendix 3, bolts in joints that are not pretensioned, or whose grip is not all steel, are assumed to carry all of the cyclic axial load and moment plus prying; for pretensioned all-steel grips the bolt stress range may come from a stiffness analysis or from the stress on the net tensile area due to 20% of the absolute value of the cyclic axial load and moment from dead, live and other loads.21

Engineering explanation

6. Braced bay in the crane line: slip and brace buckling. Braking forces and end-stop impacts travel along the runway to a braced bay. With bearing bolts in clearance holes, every reversal takes up the hole clearance, so the bay racks to and fro and the bolts hammer. A slender brace can bow, and a longitudinal force at rail level, off the column axis, twists the column unless something holds it.

SCI P399 (UK practice) notes that longitudinal surge acting off the column axis tends to twist the column unless it is restrained, for example by a horizontal truss level with the girder top flange or, for lighter cranes, a member along the inner column flange connected to the vertical bracing.3 AISC 360 requires connection slip to be included where it could cause deformations that impair serviceability, with slip precluded where appropriate;22 slip-critical connections must both resist slip and satisfy the bearing-type limit states.23

Engineering explanation

7. End stop: buffer impact. An overrun, or an operator using the stops as a brake, puts a short, sharp longitudinal force into the stop, its fixings, the girder end and the braced bay. End stops are small parts that can carry some of the largest single forces on a runway; their force comes from the crane supplier, and no held document gives it.

Part F lists accidental loads, including impact, among the limit states a design has to include where applicable, alongside fracture due to fatigue and brittle fracture.12

Engineering explanation

8. Frame column: rail spread and sway. Crane loads on brackets bend the frame columns, and in a portal frame they can move the columns at rail level so that the gap between the two rails grows; SCI P399 describes this spread, and the frame analysis gives its direction and size. Surge adds sway. The crane’s wheels are held on one rail and have only limited float on the other, so spread beyond what the crane accepts makes the wheels bind and grind. Nothing breaks at first: the crane wears out wheels and rails, and the side forces on the structure rise with every pass.

SCI P399 (UK practice) treats the spread of the runway beams under crane loads as an important serviceability issue, limited to a value agreed with the crane supplier, and notes that it can decide the structural form and that a portal carrying a crane is likely to be designed elastically.124 The Dubai Building Code sets deflection limits by the referenced standards and project-specific requirements such as crane girders,5 and for steelwork by AISC 360 and AISC Design Guide 3,25 which is not held; AISC 360 requires stability for the structure and each element, with second-order effects and geometric imperfections considered.26

Advantages and limitations

AspectAdvantageLimitation
CoverageLifts and places loads anywhere in the bayOnly within the runway length and the hook approach at each end
Floor spaceKeeps the floor clear of forklifts and lifting gearNeeds clear height above the load and a runway line along each side
CapacityCan carry heavier loads than floor handling or a jib craneHeavier cranes drive the column, bracket, bracing and foundation sizes
StructureBrackets on the building columns share structure with the frameThe frame must be stiff enough to limit rail spread, so it is heavier than a crane-free frame
DurabilityA steel runway can have a long life when inspected and maintainedFatigue, rail wear and loose clips need regular inspection
Future changeRunway girders and rails can be replaced as partsA bigger crane usually means rechecking girders, brackets, bracing and foundations
FabricationGirders and brackets are simple shop-made itemsFatigue-critical welds need careful fit-up and testing, which takes time
Overhead crane runways compared with other ways of lifting in a building (our assessment)

Engineering judgement for comparison, not a code rule. Table F.1 of the Dubai Building Code recommends a minimum design life of 10 to 25 years for replaceable structural parts, giving a gantry as an example.12

Why this structure, and not another

Engineering explanation

Our explanation. Overhead runway against forklifts and mobile cranes: floor handling needs space, clear routes and side access to the load, and cannot reach the middle of a stack or over a machine. An overhead crane reaches any point in the bay from above and keeps the floor clear, so it wins where loads are heavy, frequent or awkward and the layout is fixed; floor handling wins where loads are light or the layout changes often.

Engineering explanation

Top-running crane against an underhung crane, monorail or jib crane: a top-running crane sits on rails on top of the girders and suits heavier, wider cranes; underhung cranes and monorails hang from beam bottom flanges, often from the roof, and put their wheel loads there; a jib crane serves only a circle around one workstation and may be the simpler answer for a single machine.

Engineering explanation

Brackets against independent crane columns: brackets can save steel on light and medium runways because the building columns do double duty, but they add bending and fatigue to those columns and let frame stiffness decide rail spread. Separate or laced crane columns take the runway straight to the foundations, at the cost of more steel. SCI P399 (UK practice) lists lattice columns carrying the runway on the inner leg, independent pin-ended crane columns restrained by the portal columns, and tied portals as options where spread governs.24

Engineering explanation

Building runway against a free-standing gantry crane: in an open stockyard a gantry crane runs on ground rails on its own legs, so no building frame is needed, but the rails need their own foundations and alignment and the crane stands in the wind. What usually decides is the crane’s capacity and duty, the bay span, whether the frame can control spread, and how often the lifting zone will change.

For the experienced engineer

Engineering explanation

The AISC 360 Appendix 3 fabrication rules for fatigue (continuous backing, reinforcing fillets, cut-edge roughness, weld tabs and fillet-weld end returns) and the AWS clause-numbering issue in Appendix 3.6 are set out in the crane runway guide and are not repeated here.

AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 adds, for cyclically loaded nontubular connections, that the Engineer notes the fatigue stress category on the contract drawings and the Contractor shows backing details on the shop drawings, that backing in CJP T- and corner joints made from one side and loaded in cyclic transverse tension is removed, and that fillet welds smaller than 5 mm are prohibited.27 T- and corner CJP welds under cyclic transverse tension with the backing left in place are prohibited, and for fatigue categories B and C the Engineer ensures that CJP groove welds with cyclic transverse stress into the tensile range are inspected by radiographic or ultrasonic testing.28

Engineering explanation

Our reading of the detail choices that follow: keep attachments, erection cleats and temporary welds off the tension flange; make the web-to-flange welds under the rail continuous, and of full penetration where the duty is heavy; and treat every tack, arc strike or unplanned hole on a fatigue-critical girder as a defect to be assessed. None of these is a numeric rule from a held source.

The bolt-loosening rule in AISC 360 is not only a fatigue matter: wherever vibration could loosen a joint, it calls for pretensioned bolts, whatever the stress range.11 Appendix 6 permits a column to be laterally braced by panel or point bracing, and its user note warns that bracing offset from the shear centre leaves the column susceptible to constrained-axis torsional buckling;29 a crane column braced only at its outer flange is such a case (our example).

Engineering explanation

Erection: runway girders are often set before the roof and bracing are complete, when the columns can still lean. Survey rail level, gauge and straightness after the frame is complete and again after the first loaded runs, and keep the clip adjustment until then.

Part F says welding should not be undertaken on site, and where it is unavoidable the method of work with certificates and tests must be submitted for approval; connections may not rely on welding and bolting together.30 Both points matter when rails, clips or end stops are altered on site.

Which rules apply in Dubai

The Dubai Building Code does not apply to cranes, which A.5.1 (d) lists with tents, storage racks, scaffolding, formwork and falsework.4 Part F applies to the design and construction of buildings and of structures or appurtenances connected to a building;31 it lists fatigue in the minimum basis of design and names crane girders among the project-specific features that set deflection limits,5 and it asks for fatigue checks of members supporting vibrating machinery, vehicles or plant.6 On our reading the runway girders, rails, brackets, crane columns, bracing and foundations are therefore designed under Part F, while the crane is the supplier’s product; the Code does not say so in terms.

In Trakhees areas the steel framing inspection checklist includes the crane runway girder.20 In DDA areas, Circular 614 requires lifting equipment at construction sites to be inspected and certified by firms that the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) has accredited, and lifting personnel to be certified by EIAC-accredited persons certification bodies;32 the circular addresses construction sites, and no held document covers the inspection or certification of a permanent overhead crane in an operating building.

Engineering explanation

Detailed rules in this library: Crane runways in Dubai steel buildings: what the building structure has to provide (loads, moving wheel loads, alignment, the fatigue worked example, the responsibility split); Steel portal-frame warehouses in Dubai: what governs the design; Serviceability of steel structures in Dubai; and Steel structures the Dubai Building Code does not cover, which lists crane runways among the mixed cases. Gaps: ASCE/SEI 7-16 crane loads, AISC Design Guide 3, a crane-runway design guide, crane manufacturers’ standards and the supplier’s data for the actual crane are not held.

What to settle before design

Settle these before the runway is sized

  • Crane supplier’s data in writing: capacity, span, wheel loads and spacing, self-weights, rail and buffer forces
  • Duty: lifts per day near capacity, and the design life agreed for the runway
  • Cycle count from wheel passes, and the fatigue category of every girder, stiffener, bracket and connection detail
  • How the top flange is held sideways: wider flange, cap channel, surge girder or horizontal truss
  • Brackets on the building columns, or independent crane columns
  • Braced bay in the crane line, and slip-critical or pretensioned bolts wherever loads reverse
  • Rail type, clip system and alignment tolerances agreed with the supplier
  • End stops, buffers and the path of the buffer force to the foundation
  • Frame spread limit at rail level agreed with the supplier
  • Weld inspection and testing plan for fatigue-critical welds
  • Corrosion protection suited to the environment

A working list for a junior engineer. It is not an approval checklist.

Scope and limits

Practical consideration

Written from the 2021 Dubai Building Code, ANSI/AISC 360-16 and AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 as held on the check date, with SCI P399 (UK Eurocode practice) cited for behaviour only; later amendments and editions were not audited. ASCE/SEI 7-16, AISC Design Guide 3, crane-runway design guides, crane manufacturers’ standards and supplier data are not held, so no crane load, impact or surge allowance, deflection limit, rail tolerance or buffer force is stated. Treating the runway as building structure is our reading of the Code. The engineering explanations are ours. This guide is not a design of any runway and does not replace the project engineer’s calculations or the authority’s acceptance.

Questions this guide answers

Source notes

Numbered notes point to the exact section and physical PDF page. Page numbers are the PDF viewer’s page, which can differ from the number printed on the page. Sources checked 26 September 2026. These notes support the statements; they are not a substitute for reading the current document for a project.

  1. Design of Steel Portal Frame Buildings to Eurocode 3 (SCI P399), 2015; verified PDF front matter. Steel Construction Institute. SCI P399, Section 2.3 Cranes (printed page 7), PDF page 19. Open the publisher PDF at page 19 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  2. Design of Steel Portal Frame Buildings to Eurocode 3 (SCI P399), 2015; verified PDF front matter. Steel Construction Institute. SCI P399, Section 9.1 Vertical bracing (printed page 81), PDF page 93. Open the publisher PDF at page 93 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  3. Design of Steel Portal Frame Buildings to Eurocode 3 (SCI P399), 2015; verified PDF front matter. Steel Construction Institute. SCI P399, Section 9.1.3 Bracing to restrain longitudinal loads from cranes (printed page 82), PDF page 94. Open the publisher PDF at page 94 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  4. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part A, A.5.1, structures to which the DBC does not apply, item (d) (printed page A10), PDF page 12. Open the publisher PDF at page 12 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  5. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.8.1 Design basis and F.8.3.1 Deflection control, general (printed page F44), PDF page 370. Open the publisher PDF at page 370 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩

  6. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.8.9 Fatigue (printed page F48), PDF page 374. Open the publisher PDF at page 374 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩

  7. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Appendix 3 Fatigue, introduction and 3.1 General provisions, printed page 16.1-196. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩

  8. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Sections J10.2 Web local yielding and J10.3 Web local crippling, printed page 16.1-143. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  9. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Appendix 3, 3.2 Calculation of maximum stresses and stress ranges and 3.3 Plain material and welded joints, Eq. A-3-1M, printed page 16.1-197. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  10. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section F2, F2.1 Yielding and F2.2 Lateral-torsional buckling, printed page 16.1-47. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  11. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section J3 Bolts and threaded parts, J3.1 High-strength bolts, items (a) to (c), printed page 16.1-126. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  12. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.5.2 Design life and Table F.1, F.5.3 Design acceptance criteria and F.5.4 Structural stability (printed page F13), PDF page 339. Open the publisher PDF at page 339 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩ ↩

  13. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.7.1 General and F.7.2 Load combinations (printed page F33), PDF page 359. Open the publisher PDF at page 359 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  14. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.7.5 Live loads, item a (printed page F34), PDF page 360. Open the publisher PDF at page 360 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  15. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section J10 Flanges and webs with concentrated forces, introduction, printed page 16.1-142. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  16. Structural Welding Code - Steel (AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020), AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020, 24th edition. American Welding Society (AWS). AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Clause 4 Part C, 4.13 General, 4.14 Limitations and 4.15 Calculation of stresses (printed page 26). Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  17. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section F4 Other I-shaped members with compact or noncompact webs bent about their major axis, scope, F4.1 and F4.2, printed page 16.1-50. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  18. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section F5 Doubly symmetric and singly symmetric I-shaped members with slender webs bent about their major axis, scope, F5.1 and F5.2, printed page 16.1-54. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  19. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section H3.3 Non-HSS members subject to torsion and combined stress, printed page 16.1-84. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  20. Checklists for Structural Inspections, Collection listed February 2023; each checklist cited by page (for example steel structures framing TRK-CED-IC-CF01r, Rev. 01, and TRK-CED-IC-CF01ab, Rev. 00, both August 2019). Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), Trakhees. Trakhees checklist TRK-CED-IC-CF01ab Steel structure framing, site observations 11 to 20 (page 3 of 3), PDF page 81. Open the publisher PDF at page 81 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  21. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Appendix 3, 3.4 Bolts and threaded parts (continued) and 3.5 Fabrication and erection requirements for fatigue, printed page 16.1-200. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  22. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Chapter L, L4 Vibration to L7 Connection slip, printed page 16.1-166. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  23. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Section J3.8 High-strength bolts in slip-critical connections, printed page 16.1-134. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  24. Design of Steel Portal Frame Buildings to Eurocode 3 (SCI P399), 2015; verified PDF front matter. Steel Construction Institute. SCI P399, Section 2.3 Cranes, continued (printed page 8), PDF page 20. Open the publisher PDF at page 20 (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩

  25. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.8.3.3 Steelwork deflection limits (printed page F45), PDF page 371. Open the publisher PDF at page 371 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  26. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Chapter C, C1 General stability requirements, printed page 16.1-22. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  27. Structural Welding Code - Steel (AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020), AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020, 24th edition. American Welding Society (AWS). AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Clause 4 Part C, 4.17 Detailing, fabrication and erection, and 4.18.1 to 4.18.3 Prohibited joints and welds (printed page 29). Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  28. Structural Welding Code - Steel (AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020), AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020, 24th edition. American Welding Society (AWS). AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2020 Clause 4 Part C, 4.18.4 and 4.19 Inspection (printed page 30). Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  29. Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-16), ANSI/AISC 360-16, July 7, 2016. American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Appendix 6, 6.1 (continued) and 6.2 Column bracing, with User Note, printed page 16.1-238. Publisher page (opens in a new tab) ↩

  30. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.6.5.4.1 Bolted connections and F.6.5.4.2 Welded connections (printed page F31), PDF page 357. Open the publisher PDF at page 357 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  31. Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition. Government of Dubai; official copy hosted by Dubai Development Authority. Part F, F.4.1 Application (printed page F11), PDF page 337. Open the publisher PDF at page 337 (opens in a new tab) ↩

  32. Circular 614: Lifting Equipment and Operations, 14 March 2025, PDF and index agree. Dubai Development Authority. DDA Circular 614: Lifting Equipment and Operations, 14 March 2025 (single page), PDF page 1. Open the publisher PDF at page 1 (opens in a new tab) ↩