Fibrelite, the world’s largest manufacturer of lightweight composite access covers has supplied 190 trench covers (FM45) to be installed at a state of the art Shopping Centre; chosen for their health and safety benefits. This contemporary retail development once finished will have a floor space of 1million sq ft and a forecasted footfall of 23 million visitors in its first year.
The consulting engineers specified Fibrelite’s easy to remove and replace trench covers for this project to allow safe and easy access to cable ducts that run across the majority of the site. For this project B125, C250 and D400 load rated panels were all used in lengths of 800, 1000, 1400 and 1600mm.
Benefits include:
- Lightweight covers enabling easy and safe manual handling
- Wide range of sizes and loadings available
- Anti-slip properties equivalent to a high grade road
- Will not corrode
- Zero re-sale value to the scrap market so will never be stolen
David Holmes, Fibrelite’s Technical Director says “Our composite trench access covers are proven to be ergonomically safe for men and women to replace. The design of the covers allows them to be lifted by our FL7 lifting aids. These allow the operator to remove and replace the covers without bending over or trapping fingers, thus maximising the safety of the lifting technique”.
“As well as the safe lifting and replacement design, our trench access covers are designed as a ‘fit and forget’ product. The maintenance free ‘FM45’ is perfect for covering large areas, gullies, trenches and ducts where frequent access may be required. This is why our covers were specified for the shopping centre. The cable ducts [which are covered by the trench covers] need to be easily accessible, something the Fibrelite FM45 allows”.
With a head office in Yorkshire and manufacturing facilities is the UK, US and Malaysia, Fibrelite is recognised internationally as an innovator in composite technology. Fibrelite has been at the forefront of composite technology since 1980 and was the very first company to design and manufacture composite covers.
