Scaffolding is a working platform designed to ensure smooth progress during various construction processes. It is categorized by its location as either outer scaffolding or inner scaffolding; by material, as wooden, bamboo, or steel tube scaffolding; and by construction type, into upright, bridge, gate, suspended, hanging, cantilever, and climbing scaffolds.

Different types of construction projects require different types of scaffolding. Most bridge support structures use bowl clamp scaffolding, with some using gate scaffolding. For the main structure construction, most use clamp scaffolding for ground-level scaffolding; the longitudinal spacing of the scaffolding uprights is generally 1.2~1.8m; the transverse spacing is generally 0.9~1.5m.

Comparatively, scaffolding has the following characteristics in working conditions when compared to general structures:

1. The load variability is relatively large.

2. The connection points of the fasteners are semi-rigid, and the rigidity of the nodes is related to the quality of the fasteners and the installation quality, with significant variations in node performance.

3. Scaffold structures and components have initial defects, such as initial bending of rods, rusting, significant setup size errors, and eccentric loading, all being quite large.

4. The connection points with the wall exhibit significant variability in their constraint on the scaffolding. Due to the lack of systematic accumulation and statistical data for the above issues, the conditions for conducting independent probability analysis are not met. Therefore, the adjustment coefficient, which is multiplied by the structural resistance and is less than 1, is determined by calibrating it against the coefficients used in the past. Consequently, the design method adopted in this specification is essentially a combination of semi-probabilistic and semi-empirical approaches. Compliance with the structural requirements specified in this specification is a fundamental condition for design calculations.