Average annual rainfall by region:
Northern Scotland: 1700mm Eastern Scotland: 700mm – 1500mm Western Scotland: 1000mm – 3500mm Northern Ireland: 800mm – 2000mm Wales: 1000mm – 3000mm North West England & Isle of Man: 800mm – 3200mm
North East England: 600mm – 1500mm Midlands: 600mm – 1000mm Eastern England: >700mm Southern England: 550mm – 950mm South West England: 700mm – 1000mm
Setting Standards
A new standard for manhole covers and gully grates has been introduced and its vital that merchants and their
IN MARCH 2017, the existing European Standard for manhole covers and gully grates, which has been in place since 1994, will be obsolete across Europe. In the UK it has already been withdrawn and superseded by the new BS EN 124:2015, which now has the status of a national standard.
The new BS EN 124:2015 is important because it introduces new tests and some changes to existing ones. A new stability test has been introduced to check whether or not hits the edge. Another new test has been designed to assess the forces required to remove a cover with particular reference to child safety. There are also changes to the tests on load-bearing capacity that categorise where the product can be installed in the highway.
Barry Turner, technical manager at Wrekin Products, says that the new standard is also split into one general which ironwork is part 2. “So material characteristics are taken into account suitability for use in the road,” he says.
“Sometimes, standards change because advances in research and product development have driven new ways of thinking. Often, it happens because years of practical experience Usually, it’s a combination of both,” he continues.
Manhole covers and gully grates BMJ January 2017
need to be sturdy to ensure the rainwater from the road. It’s important they operate in a stable manner, facilitate easy access by appropriate maintenance people and deter unauthorised opening. The new standard endeavours to ensure compliant manhole covers do just that.
A New Kitemark
The British Standards Institute offers manhole covers and gully grates to the 2015 standard so that products can be Kitemarked under BSI’s rigorous testing and auditing criteria. Turner says: “Due to the
complexities of the EU, it has been an interesting journey to reach the point where products can be Kitemarked to the new standard. EN 124:2015 was developed by a CEN Technical Committee, and it was originally intended to be a ‘harmonised’ Standard which brings with it CE marking. However, the standard Commission and there is no sign of them doing this soon.
“This means that CE marking cannot be applied to manhole covers and gully grates. In fact, it is illegal to apply such a mark to products covered by the standard.”
In May 2016, the CEN Technical Committee sought to bring some clarity, advising that products should be assessed by an independent
As soon as this happened, as a responsible manufacturer we urged for BS EN 124:2015.
Help customers get ahead If it isn’t already happening, very soon your customers will be asking for third party assessed BS EN 124-2:2015 compliant products.
In November 2016, BSI presented Kitemark for BS EN 124:2015. So you can get a head start, because all Wrekin carriageway ironwork is now Kitemarked to the current standard. The company was heavily involved It was part of the British Standards Institute’s B/505/04/01 committee which helped develop the standard. As soon as it was published last year, Wrekin took steps to make sure that all products complied with the new standard. The Kitemark covers all Wrekin manhole covers and gully grates, including the new Highway® manhole cover and gully grate range. “For merchant stocking, it couldn’t be simpler,” Turner says. Every product conforms to all requirements for highway ironwork so customers can simply choose the size of cover or engineering takes care of the rest – with the added reassurance of being Kitemarked to the latest standard.”
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