Choosing the Right Heavy-Duty Grating for Your Project

Choosing the Right Heavy-Duty Grating for Your Project

How heavy-duty grating helps support safe and long-lasting industrial and municipal projects by guiding you toward the right material and design.

Choosing the right heavy-duty grating is an important step in creating a safe, durable, and reliable surface for industrial and municipal projects. Each environment has its own requirements — a forklift lane, for example, needs far more structural support than a rooftop walkway or a drainage trench. The goal is to match the grating design, material, and surface type to the conditions it will face. This guide offers practical advice to help you make an informed decision for your facility or project in Ontario.

Understand the Loads and Daily Use

The first step in selecting heavy-duty grating is understanding the loads it must support. Industrial environments often experience constant movement from forklifts, pallet trucks, and rolling carts. Municipal areas may need to accommodate snow-clearing vehicles or steady pedestrian traffic. Standards such as NAAMM, along with principles in the Ontario Building Code, guide how bearing bars should perform under load.
In general:

  • Deeper bearing bars help control deflection under heavy vehicle traffic
  • Closer bar spacing increases strength and stability
  • Lighter loads allow for thinner profiles that still offer long-term performance

Consider Drainage and Slip Prevention

Canadian weather brings frequent rain, snow, and freeze–thaw conditions. Standing water and ice are major contributors to slips and falls, according to Canadian safety authorities. Heavy-duty grating helps reduce this risk because its open design allows water, snow, and debris to pass through instead of collecting on the surface.
Serrated surfaces offer even more traction — an important detail for outdoor walkways, industrial floors, and maintenance platforms where slipping is a concern.

Choose the Right Material for Your Environment

Different materials offer benefits for different conditions:

  • Carbon steel delivers excellent strength for heavy industrial loads
  • Stainless steel resists corrosion in wastewater plants, food facilities, or marine environments
  • Aluminum is lightweight and suited for rooftops or maintenance platforms

For outdoor installations, galvanizing is often recommended because it helps protect steel from moisture, salt, and corrosion over time.

Match the Grating to the Application

A few practical examples make the decision easier:

  • Forklift aisles require deeper bearing bars to prevent excessive deflection
  • Mezzanines may benefit from lighter materials when structural weight is limited
  • Drainage areas need open patterns that allow water to clear quickly
  • Public walkways often require serrated surfaces for additional slip resistance

Matching the grating to real-world conditions helps ensure safety and reduces maintenance over the long term.

A Trusted Canadian Manufacturer

For more than 65 years, Borden Metal Products has supplied heavy-duty grating across Canada. Our riveted, pressure-locked, squeeze-locked, and resistance-welded products are manufactured in Beeton, Ontario, and support the needs of industrial, commercial, and municipal environments where strong and dependable surfaces are essential.

If you need help choosing the right heavy-duty grating for your project, our team is ready to assist you. Contact us to book a consultation.