Conveyor & Equipment Platforms
A conveyor or equipment platform is steel built to carry a specific machine — a conveyor line, dust collector, mixing tank, or packaging unit — at the elevation the process needs, with the stiffness running equipment demands. Grandview fabricates and installs these platforms across Salt Lake County and Utah County under a Utah B100 general contractor license, working from the vendor’s drawings.
When an equipment platform is the right scope, and when it isn’t
The mezzanines & platforms family covers several things that look alike from across the plant floor. A warehouse mezzanine adds floor area for people and pallets, designed around a uniform load. An industrial catwalk gets a technician to a motor and carries little more than the technician. A conveyor or equipment platform carries the machine itself: its dead weight, the product moving through it, and the vibration and start-stop forces it produces.
You need this page if you are running a conveyor overhead or across an aisle, putting a dust collector up where its ductwork works, or mounting sorting or packaging equipment on a raised deck. If the machine sits on the slab and only needs a frame under it, that is an equipment skid or dunnage job, simpler and cheaper.
What goes into a conveyor or equipment platform
Equipment steel is engineered differently from storage steel:
- Point loads at the equipment feet. A storage deck spreads 125 pounds over every square foot. A machine puts its whole weight on four to eight mounting pads, so we frame beams directly under those pads from the vendor’s load drawings.
- Vibration and deflection limits. Running equipment on a bouncy platform shakes bearings loose and trips sensors. The engineer sets a tighter deflection limit than a storage deck needs: deeper beams or shorter spans under the machine.
- Conveyor support steel. Floor stands, ceiling hangers, and crossover trusses fabricated to the integrator’s elevations so the belt line lands where their drawings say.
- Anchor bolt templates and leveling. A shop-made template checked against the vendor’s bolt plan, with shim and grout allowance so the millwright can level the machine in minutes.
- Deck matched to the process. Grating under conveyors lets spillage fall through and keeps sprinkler coverage open below; checker plate or concrete-filled deck goes where operators need a solid surface.
- Maintenance access built in. Removable guardrail at the equipment edge, a catwalk to gearbox locations, and clearance for panels that open.
Two trades here are subcontracted. Grandview holds the contract and manages licensed electricians for the power drops and disconnects on the deck, and licensed fire-sprinkler contractors where a solid deck shadows existing heads; we coordinate, sequence, and quality-check their work inside the platform schedule. The equipment itself is set by the vendor or your millwright. Our job is to hand them a deck that is level, anchored, and at the elevation their drawings assume.
How we build around a machine that hasn’t arrived yet
Equipment platforms are usually built before the equipment is on site, so they have to be right the first time.
- Get the vendor drawings first. General arrangement, weights, mounting-pad locations, anchor bolt plan, and any dynamic-load notes. If the integrator is still laying out the line, we join those meetings so elevations are agreed, not assumed.
- Verify the building. Clear heights, column lines, roof structure if anything hangs, and slab thickness. Equipment columns concentrate heavy loads on small footprints, and along parts of the Wasatch Front bench the soils under a slab can be collapsible or expansive, which decides whether columns bear on base plates or new footings.
- Engineer for the machine and the fault. A structural engineer designs for point loads, deflection, and lateral forces. Utah is seismic country, and the USGS earthquake hazard mapping behind current Utah-adopted code means mounted equipment and its platform are both anchored for seismic loads.
- Permit and fabricate in parallel. Stamped drawings go to the city while the shop cuts and welds. Fast-growing industrial corridors in Lehi, Eagle Mountain, and west Salt Lake County are moving large volumes of applications, and we build that review time into the schedule.
- Erect, level, and hand off. Columns anchored, frame set, deck laid, access installed, special inspections passed. We verify anchor-bolt locations and deck elevation against the vendor plan before the machine arrives.
What does an equipment platform cost in Salt Lake City?
As a ballpark planning number, not a quote, equipment platforms in Utah often land around $40 to $80 per square foot of deck installed, higher than a storage mezzanine because the steel is heavier for its footprint and the platforms tend to be small.
- Machine weight and dynamics. A 2,000-pound static unit and a 2,000-pound vibrating unit need different steel.
- Elevation and span. Taller columns and clear spans over forklift aisles mean heavier members and more bracing.
- Slab versus footings. If the slab carries the column loads, you save concrete work and days.
- Electrical, sprinkler, and access. Power drops, sprinkler relocation, and each stair, ladder, or removable rail section are real line items.
After a site visit and a look at the vendor drawings we give you a budget range, then a firm proposal once engineering settles member sizes.
Questions we actually get
Can you build the platform before our equipment is delivered?
Yes, and that is the normal order. We need the vendor’s general-arrangement drawing, weights, mounting-pad layout, and anchor bolt plan to size the steel and set the template. With those, the platform is erected and verified before the machine ships.
Can the platform be reconfigured if the conveyor line changes later?
Bolted connections make that practical. We often detail equipment platforms with bolted beam-to-column connections and bolt-in guardrail so support stands can move when the line is rerouted. Welded connections are stiffer and cheaper up front, so the choice depends on how likely the layout is to change.
Does a conveyor platform need a permit and engineer in Utah?
Treat it as yes. An elevated structure carrying equipment is a structural addition, and Utah cities generally require stamped drawings, a building permit, and special inspections on welds and anchors. Small floor-standing conveyor supports are sometimes handled under the equipment permit instead. We confirm with your city’s building department during design.
Why is the deflection limit such a big deal on equipment steel?
Because a running machine turns small movements into real problems. A deck that flexes half an inch under load is fine for pallets and bad for a conveyor drive or anything with alignment-sensitive bearings. That tighter limit is the main reason this steel costs more per foot than a storage mezzanine.
Grandview is a Utah DOPL B100 general contractor, license #14282236-5501, verifiable at dopl.utah.gov. The shop work behind these platforms is covered under steel mezzanine fabrication; the wider family starts at our specialty capabilities hub.
Tell us what the platform has to carry
Send the equipment cut sheet or vendor drawings and your clear height. We reply within a couple of hours during business hours, a day at most, with a straight read on structure, sequence, and budget.