Hi Jop,
Thanks for your reply.
The decks are made of either beams or pipes above which a deck plate or grating is placed.
we prefer grating for exactly the same reason you mentioned. but in places where handling or any safety measure is required, they provide deck plate of usually 10mm thk. it is placed all over the structural steel or pipe and welded completely.
wherever the grating is provided, we can cut grating and place support directly over the structural steel or structural pipe. But wherever the deck plate is provided over structure, it is not advised to cut.
i can think of cutting the deck plate to a size wider than beam flange. in this way, we create a gap on both side of the beam flange, so it facilitates draining.
but i am not sure if it is acceptable. that’s why i am looking forward to some expert’s view on this who has done similar jobs before.
