Windspeeds, Pegs & Sandbag requirements reminder for newbies (& the boring why's that's not in en14960)
Pegs & windspeed:
The regulations state that we must use 380mm long, 16mm thick pegs to a certain specification as shown here: https://www.better-bounce.co.uk/search.aspx?q=pegs#BodyContent
A 380mm, 16mm thick peg hammered in at 45 degrees in average grass/ soil conditions, gives a resistance of 167kn.
Each mph of wind increases the KN resistance on the anchors. When the wind hits 25mph the force is greater than 167kn, the pegs can come out and the inflatable can blow away.
This is why it's 165kg and 24mph max wind speed (Inc gusts) in the regs.
What if there is no grass:
If there is no grass, you need to replace this 167kn with its equivalent weight of 165kg to get the same effect, which is possible, but pretty impractical considering the minimum anchors of an inflatable is 6.
6*167kg is pretty much 1 tonne and not something that's very convenient to have on a van.
You can use sand bags, ballast, water bails, concrete blocks, vehicles or anything you can tie to such as fence posts ect or anchor drill and use anchor bolts with a spec of over 167kn if you know what your doing.
Anchor point calculations:
As an inflatable gets larger, it's surface area increases, which magnifies the wind loading and increases the total force. This inturn means more anchor points are needed during manufacture to offset the load and keep the inflatable safe from blowing away.
A 12ft slide from Betterbounce for example, has been calculated to need 24 anchors to counteract the load. This is why it's imperative that every anchor point is used at all times no matter how rediculous you may feel it is. Remember, each anchor needs 165kg and as such, you would require 24*165kg to operate this slide safely and legally under 24mph.
Larger pegs for increased windspeed?:
I've seen this question asked before so here goes.
The reason you can't just have thicker, longer pegs for better results is that the PVC material is only strong enough to cope with 167kg on a regular basis. Any more and it would tear the PVC.
In addition to this, the 380mm length is set to avoid all underground services such as water, gas, electricity ect which should be burried at a greater depth to prevent injury. Be wary though as many private residences fail to meet this criteria.
I hope that explains it a bit but ultimately everything is contained in en14960, along with everything else you need to know.
You can grab a copy here at https://www.evs.ee/en/evs-en-14960-1-2019
Written by www.better-bounce.co.uk
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