Wuzland® and Primus® Manhole Covers

There are two SABS (South Africa Bureau of Standard) standards for manhole covers, SANS1882:2003 and SANS558:2009, which are the standards for polymer and iron cast manhole covers respectively. Both standards specify certain dimensions of manhole cover and frame, also its duty class to certain type, and name it such as type 2A, type 2B, type 9A or type 9D, etc. There is little difference of specifications (dimensions) of the same types classified between these two kinds of manhole covers, but the duty class of polymer manhole covers and iron cast ones are both tested by the same Method [Glossary: Strength test of SABS (SANS1882:2003)] and classified into the same duties of Light, Medium and Heavy by the same testing force of 7KG, 40KG and 135KG respectively. For these duty classes, SABS states:

1. Heavy Duty Class (H), for use in carriageways and capable of bearing wheel loads of up to 12 metric tons or 135KN.
2. Medium Duty Class (M), for use where heavy commercial vehicles have no access, i.e. vehicles having the wheel loads exceeding 40KN, typical use would be in domestic accesses, pavements and cycle tracks, etc.
3. Light Duty Class (L), for use in situations where wheeled vehicles have no access and the loads applied will not exceed 7KN.

Wuzland® and Primus® manhole covers are classified into the same duty classes according to SABS standards, but more details of Duty Classification for our manhole covers are specified.

Primus® and Wuzland® BMC manhole covers, trench covers, sewer and drain covers, gully gratings as well as grids inlets were approved and certified by either SABS or EN124 and our manufacturers were granted the ISO9001 Certificates.

EN124:1994 is a standard of European union for manhole covers, here we only discuss its duty groups. EN124 classifies the duty of manhole covers into A, B, C, D, E, F grades such as A15, B125, C250, and D400 in which the testing force is applied at 15KN, 125KN, 250KN and 400KN respectively, etc. Each grade or duty group of the manhole covers is recommended to use in certain areas, to view the IMAGE for details.

The new version of EN124:2015 has been published. The standard has been split into 6 sections for different materials:

1. EN 124-1   Gully tops and manhole tops for vehicular and pedestrian areas. Definitions, classification, general principals of design, performance requirements and test methods
2. EN 124-2   Gully tops and manhole tops made of cast iron
3. EN 124-3   Gully tops and manhole tops made of steel or aluminum alloys
4. EN 124-4   Gully tops and manhole tops made of steel reinforced concrete
5. EN 124-5   Gully tops and manhole tops made from composite materials
6. EN 124-6   Gully tops and manhole tops made from polypropylene, polyethylene or non-plasticized poly vinyl chloride.

BS EN124 is the standard published by British Standards Institute, the content is the same as EN124. The Standard of EN124 is widely used worldwide and now its EN124:1994 is recognized by SABS as SABS SANS 50124:1994.

A special weight tolerance test of our Primus® 2A Heavy Duty Covers was required by XCMG Africa before their purchase order was placed for their special usage of the covers in a exhibition show of their cranes. Four 2A covers were placed respectively under the four lifting devices/stands of the crane of which nett was 43000 KG. The crane was lifted away from the ground completely and held for about 15 minutes. Both sides of the covers were tested, no damage was found in the covers. Many thanks to XCMG Africa for the testing.

Our Medium Duty 150KN 750x450x45 Gully Gratings were installed on the driveway by a client who would not expect any heavy vehicles to access there. After heavy container trucks (gross weight at least over 30 tons) drove over the gully gratings several times safely, the client was happy and took the photos to send to us. We were grad to know the quality of our product to be tested, however the client had to be advised to avoid such heavy trucks passing over the cover, which could shorten its lifespan. We also strongly recommended the client in such situation not to allow the truck to park with its wheels right onto the cover for a certain time, which could cause damage to the cover.

Many thanks to Muhammad who sent us the photos.