With active travel becoming more widespread, it is essential that the facilitating road infrastructure meets the highest standards in safety and quality performance.
The revision of the EN 124:2015 standard means project designers now have a clear adherence framework for access cover selection in a variety of materials with ductile iron, composite, and galvanised steel under its scope.
The rigorous load and performance testing procedures of this standard guarantees a high factor of safety for clients and users. For surety of compliance, third party accreditation should be insisted upon to assure diligence and best practice in reducing risks is followed.
Ergonomic options to ease user access
Due to their low weight versus other material, composite covers offer a reduced lifting effort for the user making them easy to handle and install. Utilised for traffic signal, street lighting and general ducting infrastructure in Ireland and the UK, they contribute to reducing the risk of injury to operators.
Utilising composite covers instead of recessed covers with a paving infill will eliminate the heavy lift required of this traditional solution. Lift assist features such as torsion springs or mechanical struts can be designed in to assist with opening and closing of the covers over their lifetime.
Improve aesthetics for public realm by customising covers
Making a public space more appealing is a challenge for architects, but the incorporation of customised covers can create a more visually attractive place for the community as well as creating a strong brand for a local authority or commemorating an historic event of local significance.
The flexibility of colour coding services is also available with composite covers whose UV resistant protective layer ensures a durable and long-lasting finish.
Environmental and sustainability
At EJ, we are determined to offer the most sustainable range of access solutions. In Ireland, we have achieved a silver medal from EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings.
Our comprehensive range of ductile iron covers and frames are made from recycled materials and are also fully recyclable. Our composite products play a key role in reducing the carbon footprint of our company, requiring a low temperature manufacturing process and contributing to reduced transport loads due to their light weight structure.
Talk to the experts
As global leaders and suppliers of access solutions, EJ are experts in understanding local infrastructure. We design and manufacture innovative, high quality access solutions for the water, telecommunications, drainage and utility industries, in our own communities and globally.
We offer guidance on specifications and compliance to standards for access covers and drainage solutions, across all infrastructure networks and can advise on how you can achieve long term value and future proof networks.
If you are interested in learning more about our range of access solutions suitable for active travel and public realm projects, we would welcome the opportunity to deliver an Engineers Ireland approved Lunch & Learn seminar. Please contact our Business Development team on 057 91 23100.