If you’re working on a trench or excavation, and the hole in the ground is making walking and moving vehicles and excavators difficult, you need a road plate.
In this guide, you’ll get to know what a road plate is, when and how to use it, and how to get the right plate for your project needs.
What are road plates?
As the name suggests, road plates are flat structures that crews place on the ground to cover ditches and potholes. They’re heavy-duty and provide a temporary solution for safe access over trenches, excavations and uneven roads for vehicles, machines and people.
Crews securely attach these to the ground to keep them firm and prevent movement when vehicles or heavy loads pass over them. Legend Hire’s steel road plates have an anti-slip coating for additional safety. It increases the friction and prevents slippage and movement.
Types of Road Plates
Road plates can be made of steel or composite. The material defines its properties and leads to two main types.
1. Steel road plates
Workers most commonly use steel plates because they have a high load capacity and can handle both high-traffic areas and heavy machinery. They are reliable and suitable for long-term and heavy-duty applications.
Legend Hire offers durable steel road plates in multiple sizes and thicknesses to suit every project’s needs.
2. Composite road plates
Composite road plates, often referred to as plastic plates, are lighter in weight than steel plates, making them quicker and easier to install.
Unlike the steel road plates, the composite plates don’t require any machinery for installation. However, their load capacity is less than steel plates, making them unsuitable for heavy loads and high-traffic areas. They are best used for pedestrian crossings and low-traffic areas.
There are dedicated composite mats designed to meet the needs of construction and heavy-duty applications. Our SAMSON™ composite mat is specifically designed to bear heavy loads in excavation and construction projects. The exceptional durability and strength are the result of hot melt technology used to manufacture it.
What is best for your needs: steel road plates vs composite road plates? We did a detailed guide on it to help you out.
Applications: What are road plates used for?
Crews use these wherever they need temporary support to maintain traffic and pedestrian flow. Think of urban road maintenance and repair projects, excavations and mining, and trenches in construction.
Depending on the location and project, the road plates can support anything from pedestrians and vehicles to heavy machinery like cranes and excavators. The purpose is to provide a safe route and keep the traffic flow consistent.
Repair and maintenance projects:
Crews install these during road works to provide pedestrians and vehicles with a safe, even path. It reduces traffic disruption and ensures a smooth traffic flow even during maintenance and repair works.
Excavations and trench protection:
You can use road plates to cover trenches and excavations to provide a safe route for workers and machinery. Road plates become essential in projects where the workers or machines operate near trenches to prevent accidents and stay compliant with the regulations.
Ground protection and machinery access:
In excavation and construction work, the ground is sometimes not stable enough to carry the weight of cranes and heavy machines. You can install road plates on such grounds to support the weight and prevent it from collapsing.
A similar situation is with suspended concrete slabs. Excessive load can bend a road plate, but you can prevent this by placing the plate over concrete. The road plate increases the load capacity of the concrete slab and prevents deflection or bending.
How to choose the right road plate for your construction needs?
How to install road plates
Crews use cranes to move heavy steel road plates, while two people can easily lift lightweight composite ones. The road plate installation process is simple and looks like this.
1. Prepare the site
Mark out the working zone and ensure there are no extra tools, parts or machines. There shouldn’t be any work in progress in or near the work zone.
The edges of the trench where the plate will be anchored should be stable and even. You should also ensure there are no hindrances or trip hazards near the working site.
If you use steel road plates, handle them with extra care because lifting and suspending the plate can be dangerous.
2. Lift and position the plates
In case of steel road plates, attach lifting chains to all 4 corner holes of the plate, or you can lift through the central lifting system. Our road plates come with both corner holes and a centre hole to allow you to lift the way that works best for you.
Ensure all the attachments are secure, and only then lift the plate using a crane or excavator. Slowly lower the plate down to the trench. Make sure there’s enough ground on both sides of the trench to secure and support the road plate.
If you’re using a composite or plastic road plate, you don’t need any machines. Two people can easily lift and place the road plate over the trench.
3. Even out the entry and exit points
If there’s any gap between the road and the plate, fill it using cold mix bitumen. If the plate is above the ground, use transition plates or plate locks to smooth out the edges.
This small fix ensures that the vehicles or the pedestrians don’t bump into the uneven edges. Our SAMSON™ composite mat comes with overlapping flanges, eliminating the tripping hazard.
4. Secure the road plate
Use plate locks, a weld-in anchor system or predrilling to secure the plates. This is essential to ensure the plates don’t move due to traffic and load.
Our steel road plates have corner deck pin holes for securing the plates to the ground. And our composite mat offers a cam lock connection system for fast and easy securing.
Choosing the right road plate for your project
Depending on the location and load requirements, you can select from steel and composite road plates. However, these plates come in different sizes and thicknesses. To decide the right size, you need to consider your site location and its requirements.
You determine the length and width of the road plate based on the area you need to cover, and you choose its thickness according to the load whether it’s pedestrians, vehicles, or machines that the plate must carry. The higher the load, the greater the thickness of the plate needs to be.
Need road plates? Partner with Legend Hire
As road plates are temporarily used, contractors often opt to hire rather than buy.
Hiring is fast, efficient and cost-effective and doesn’t require maintenance and inspection. It also gives you access to a range of sizes and thicknesses, so you can get exactly what you need for your project without the hefty investment.
Legend Hire provides both steel and heavy-duty composite road plates that meet the Australian standards. Our team will guide you on choosing the right plate for your project and estimating how many you will need.
Explore our ground protection and road safety range.