Road Plates
HERMEQ supplies steel road plates and composite trench covers that carry vehicles and pedestrians over trenches, excavations and open chambers. Construction, utilities and temporary works contractors use them to keep traffic and site operations moving while work continues below. Our steel plates are manufactured in the UK in a range of formats and in gauges up to 25mm, and each has lifting holes for safe handling and installation. The range covers plain, anti-skid and anti-slip road plates and the hi-vis Safe Plate, so the surface can be matched to the conditions and the risk on each job, alongside lightweight composite plates for footways, driveways and sites without lifting equipment. All of it is held in permanent UK stock.
Steel road plates: plain, anti-skid and anti-slip
The steel carries the load, and the surface finish and edge profile are chosen for the traffic that will cross the plate. The trade also calls them trench plates, road boards and metal road plates, and every plate in this part of the range is cut from steel.
Plain steel road plates
Plain steel road plates are the standard plate for haul routes, compounds and site accesses, where plant and delivery vehicles cross trenches and the plates are lifted forward as the excavation moves on.
Anti-skid road plates
Anti-skid road plates have a resin coating with bauxite bonded to the top face, the same aggregate used for high friction surfacing on the approaches to junctions and crossings. Choose them where vehicles brake, turn or pull away on the plate, such as carriageway trenches, site entrances and gradients, and where the plate will stay wet for long periods.
Anti-slip road plates
Anti-slip road plates carry a coarse aggregate bonded to the steel, which gives grip to boots and tyres alike. They suit work zones, yards and footway crossings where pedestrians and vehicles share the same plates.
Chamfered edge road plates
A sloped edge lets wheels run onto the plate and off it again with less impact and less noise. Road plates with chamfered edges are the choice for live carriageways and busy urban streets, and they include the largest formats in the range for wide openings under heavy traffic.
Safe Plate hi-vis road plates
The Safe Plate hi-vis road plate combines an anti-slip coating with painted high-visibility lips, so the edge of the plate stands out to people on foot and to drivers. HERMEQ developed it for pedestrianised areas, footway crossings, rail and tramway maintenance zones and slow-moving traffic.
Safe Lift road plates
The Safe Lift road plate is an anti-skid plate with a lifting point in the centre as well as at the corners. With a lifting adaptor and a single leg chain it is picked up from one hook, which suits gangs that lift and relay plates every shift.
Steel trench cover plates and hole covers
Steel trench cover plates are long plates made for the trench runs dug for cables, ducts and pipework in utility work. Steel hole covers, also called steel plate manhole covers, keep debris out of manholes, chambers and small excavations and give a stable surface over them.
Composite and plastic road plates
Composite and plastic plates cover trenches on footways, driveways and private accesses, and on any job where there is no machine on hand to lift steel.
Composite road plates
The LowPro 15/05 composite road plate is built from interlocking inner and end sections, so a cover is assembled to the length of the trench and laid by two people without a crane or forklift. Pre-drilled anchor points allow a semi-permanent crossing on a road carrying HGVs.
Driveway trench cover boards
Driveway boards are rated for the wheel of a car or van crossing a trench cut across a domestic or commercial access. The driveway trench cover board was commissioned by National Grid and has a flexible edge that grips the surface, so in most cases it needs no bolting into block paving or tarmac. The driveway board, made from HDPE and recycled PVC, has fixing holes and a surface tested for slip resistance to BS 7976, for accesses where the cover is to be fixed down.
Pedestrian trench covers and footway boards
The LowPro 11/11 pedestrian trench cover has a flexible edge that reduces the trip at its perimeter and holds the cover without anchors, so it can go down on paving where drilling is not allowed. The lightweight pedestrian trench cover is a smaller LowPro for the same narrow footway trenches, light enough for one person to lay. The Tuff Tread footway board is HDPE and PVC, meets HAUC requirements and suits utility programmes that specify a HAUC-compliant board. Foot ramps and further trench cover boards sit in their own category.
Temporary manhole covers
The locking temporary manhole cover drops into an open chamber and is turned home with a key, so traffic cannot knock it out of position between service phases. It is a one-person lift, load tested to BS EN 124, and replaces timber boards and heavy steel covers on roadworks and reinstatement jobs where vehicles cross the chamber.
Steel or plastic road plates
Steel is the choice for site plant, sustained heavy traffic and the widest openings, wherever lifting equipment is on hand to place the plates.
Composite is the choice where plates have to be carried by two people, laid quickly on block paving or tarmac without drilling, or moved often as a utility gang works along a street. It is not limited to foot traffic: the LowPro 15/05 composite plate is tested to 44 tonnes over a 700mm trench, which covers HGVs on a road crossing.
On utility work the two often go down together, with steel across the carriageway where the lorry and its lifting gear can reach and composite covers on the footway and drives either side.
What road plates are used for
Road plates cover open trenches, excavations and chambers so that vehicles and pedestrians can keep crossing while work continues underneath, and each job asks something different of the plate.
Carriageway and highway trenches
On a live road the plate has to stay put under braking and turning traffic, sit quietly and give wheels a smooth transition on and off. Chamfered steel plates fixed at every corner suit most carriageway trenches, with an anti-skid surface at junctions and on gradients.
Site access and haul routes
Plain steel is the usual plate on construction sites, where trenches cross haul roads and compound entrances and the excavator or telehandler already working there can lift the plates forward as the job moves.
Footways and pedestrian crossings
Where the public walk over the works, the edge, the grip and the visibility of the cover come first, because the people crossing include wheelchair users, parents with buggies and people with impaired sight. Flexible-edge composite covers, the HAUC-compliant Tuff Tread and the hi-vis Safe Plate are made for this work.
Road plate sizes and thickness
Plate size and trench width
A plate is sized so that it bears on firm, undisturbed ground on both sides of the trench, with enough overlap that wheel loads land well back from the trench edge. Openings too wide for any plate are crossed with trench bridges, and soft ground with no opening to bridge is covered with ground protection mats.
Gauge and traffic weight
A thicker gauge is needed as vehicle weight rises and as the span across the trench grows, so a gang covering a narrow cable trench for vans can work with a lighter plate than one bridging a wide excavation for loaded HGVs.
Rectangular or square plates
Rectangular formats, up to 3000 x 1500mm in the steel range, follow a trench run and are laid edge to edge where the run is longer than one plate. Square plates suit chambers and pits, because they bear on all four sides of the opening.
Laying and securing road plates
A secure road plate rests on firm bearing ground and is fixed against movement, and both are checked before traffic crosses.
The bearing surface on each side of the trench is cleared of spoil and loose stone so that the plate sits flat, because a plate resting on a high spot rocks under every wheel and works its fixings loose. Where a run needs more than one plate, the plates are laid close up to one another so that no gap or step is left for a wheel or a foot to catch.
On live roads each plate is fixed with road plate securing collars through the corner lifting holes, one per corner. The collar bolts into a hole drilled in the surface beneath and stops the plate rocking, creeping and clattering as traffic passes, and it comes out again by reversing the drill for use on the next job.
Once traffic is running, the plates are checked at the start of each shift and after heavy rain or a period of loaded vehicles, for movement, settlement at the trench edges and loose fixings. Any plate that has shifted is lifted, its bearing made good, and the plate relaid and fixed again before traffic returns to it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Are road plates the same as trench covers?
The terms overlap. On site, a road plate usually means a steel plate rated for vehicles, while trench cover also takes in the lighter composite and plastic covers made for footways and driveways. Both bridge an open excavation, and HERMEQ lists steel and composite covers together in this range so that the plate can be matched to the traffic.
What is an 8x4 road plate?
An 8x4 road plate measures 8 feet by 4 feet, which is 2400 x 1200mm in metric, and it is a common size for steel road plates on site. The Safe Lift road plate is made in this format. The anti-skid range also includes 2500 x 1250mm plates, the slightly larger metric size that does the same job.
How are steel road plates lifted and moved?
Steel plates are lifted by machine, using chains hooked through the lifting holes onto a HIAB, crane or excavator rated for lifting, or with a magnetic plate lifter. The lift is planned by a competent person, with the plate weight known and all lifting gear rated above it. Plates are lowered into position and are never dragged or levered by hand.
Can road plates be used on a public road?
Yes. Road plates are used across carriageway trenches on public roads, and the Department for Transport's Traffic Advisory Leaflet 6/14, Using road plates at road works, sets out how they should be selected and mounted. The plate must be rated for the traffic using the road and for the trench span, and the works must follow the Safety at Street Works and Road Works code of practice.
Are HERMEQ road plates made in the UK?
Yes. HERMEQ manufactures its plain, anti-skid, anti-slip, chamfered and Safe Plate steel road plates, steel trench cover plates and hole covers in the UK with in-house steel processing. The composite LowPro covers, driveway boards and temporary manhole cover are UK-made too, and the range is sold online with nationwide delivery.