Dear all,

I have seen in several support drawings that a typical erection gap of 1 or 2 mm is indicated between the pipe shoe and the lateral restraint in supports that are supposed to be lateral restraints with no gap. Some of my colleages tell me that those gaps must not be considered in the CAESAR calculations since they are negligible and do not exist during real operation (??). Which is your opinion? Those gaps must be considered or on the contrary are supposed to disappear during operation? Which is the reason for those little gaps?

Thank you all.