Page under construction April 2018
Steel plates have been used for over 50 years to cover trenches and single openings in the utility industry worldwide; they have earned the title ‘Road Plates’ as if they purpose-built for the job. It is well understood within the industry, however, that steel plates, pressed into service for use on the roadways, present a range of problems for the contractor and the traveling public:
- Although strong, steel road plates are heavy- thus difficult and costly to transport
- Placing steel plates over an open trench is always a problem
- Keeping steel plates in place over a single opening is a bigger problem
- There is no standardised method for anchoring plates
- Many plates on city streets do not have the required Skid Resistance Value (SRV) and in the majority of cases- no skid resistant coatings are applied
- Although strong, steel road plates are heavy- thus difficult and costly to transport
