The new cost saving alternative in road safety maintenance – WB safety road plate VS traditional steel road plates

The new cost saving alternative to steel road plates for road safety maintenance

WB safety road plate VS traditional steel road plates – Road maintenance activities are an essential part of maintaining a safe and effective road traffic network. In fact, road maintenance and street works take place all throughout the country on a daily basis. Other than regular road maintenance activities including fixing potholes, smoothing road surfaces and adding new lanes, occasionally other civil works maintenance and installations may require part of the road to be excavated.

Excavating roads and installing or repairing infrastructure, including underground storm water systems, pipes and conduits, can be a costly and time consuming exercise. Furthermore, any road excavations and repairs have the potential to severely disrupt traffic flow. Even though minor maintenance works may be performed during non-peak times, other maintenance activities may require days, weeks or even months to complete.

To minimise inconvenience for road users and to allow traffic flow to continue along roads undergoing maintenance, heavy steel road plates are usually installed to cover up any holes or trenches on the road. These heavy steel road plates are temporarily installed while repairs are taking place and also allow cars, trucks, bikes, etc. to continue using the road.

The current challenge that councils, government road authorities and road maintenance crews face, is the high cost, high amount of labour and delays to traffic that result from installing steel plates. Specialised heavy lifting equipment such as a Crane Truck, is also required in order to lift and install these steel road plates. A single 1.2m x 2.4m steel road plate weighs over 500kg!
Furthermore, costs for hiring steel plates are high and re-tarring along the steel plate edges may also be required due to prolonged use.

With these challenges in mind, WB safety has introduced the modular heavy duty plastic road plate system as an alternative to heavy steel road plates.

The heavy duty plastic road plate is the ideal substitution to steel road plates, giving you more flexibility and security. Due to the modular system, each middle section weighs only 42kg and can be lifted into position manually by 2 people. End sections only weigh 23kg. Therefore, there is no need to hire heavy lifting equipment and storing the road plates when not in use is also simple, as they can be easily stacked one on top of the other.

The strength of the plastic road plate system cannot be questioned, as it has been tested to a vehicle weight of 44 tonnes, with a safety factor of 2:2:1.

The trench stability must be assessed prior to the road plate being installed to ensure that the ground conditions are structurally sound.

Therefore, the plastic road plate system provides the following benefits and advantages over traditional steel road plates

• A better long term, cost effective option than a steel road plate
• Extremely heavy duty, yet lightweight (44kg). Tested to a vehicle weight of 44 tonnes
• Easy to install in less than 30 minutes and only requires 2 people.
• Does not require specialised heavy lifting equipment
• Safe, anti-slip surface
• Compliant with Safe Working Practices
• The innovative flexible edge dampens any unwanted sounds making the product ideal for use in residential areas

For more information, please contact the WBT safety team or view the product range – https://wbtools.com.au/products/civil-safety-products/road-plates.html