Rail maintenance facilities are busy places where safety and efficiency are key. These facilities include large machinery, vehicles carrying heavy loads and have essential services housed below ground which must safely and frequently be accessed. Fibrelite was approached to provide a custom long-term solution.

This Doncaster rail maintenance facility required custom-made trench covers to accommodate a selection of different sized piping which need to run vertically through the covers and into the trenches. The trench covers also needed to be manufactured to custom dimensions to fit perfectly around corners, buildings and machinery.

The covers needed to be strong while enabling quick, safe, regular access for essential maintenance and monitoring. Due to frequent wet weather conditions, the covers needed to have sufficient anti-slip properties to ensure the safety of people walking around the site.

Fibrelite’s UK technical team (based in Skipton) worked closely with engineers and contractors at the Doncaster facility to design and manufacture tailor-made covers which accommodate the service pipes to the exact specifications of the customer. Trench covers were made in two load ratings; D400 for areas outside of the facility and B125 for the inside.

Fibrelite covers have the best strength-to-weight ratio in the industry, which means they can support large machinery and vehicles carrying heavy loads while being light enough to be removed easily and safely by two people using specially designed lifting handles. The trench covers also provide a safe walking surface even when wet which has been tested to be equivalent to a modern, high-grade road surface.

Manufactured using a specialised composite material, they will not corrode over time, unlike metal and concrete, meaning that they will not need to be replaced for many years.