Glass-reinforced plastic or GRP has become a key material in residential and commercial projects worldwide owing to its greater durability, affordability, and aesthetic features.
The most common application of this material is in the manufacturing of manhole covers. GRP manhole covers are far superior to cast iron or steel manhole covers in terms of their strength, flexibility, and versatility. This makes them perfect in high footfall or heavy traffic areas where you cannot afford to use low-strength traditional materials with little impact resistance.
This blog highlights the benefits of GRP manhole covers in high-traffic areas in detail. So, keep on reading till the end to know what makes GRP manhole covers an ideal investment for all urban development projects.
- GRP Manhole Covers: A Brief Overview
- Key Features of GRP Manhole Covers
- Advantages of GRP Manhole Covers in High Traffic Areas
- Greater Durability
- High Impact and Corrosion Resistance
- Anti-Slip Surfaces
- Non-Conducting Material
- Reduce Manhole Cover Theft Risks
GRP Manhole Covers: A Brief Overview
GRP manhole covers are a new and innovative class of manhole covers that are being used for GRP manhole chambers all over the globe. The GRP or glass reinforced plastic is a sturdy material that combines glass fibers, polyester, vinyl ester, or some other polymer resin to give you a lightweight but durable material, which is used extensively in industrial and domestic applications.
The use of this material in manhole covers has enhanced the aesthetics, functionality, and lifetime of these key urban infrastructure elements, which leads to significant cost savings.
Key Features of GRP Manhole Covers
The following are some major features of GRP manhole covers that set them apart from traditional cast iron, aluminium, or concrete manhole covers of the past.
- These are made from lightweight but extremely durable materials, which leads to easier transportation, installation, and maintenance.
- These are ideal for high-traffic areas with high moisture or water exposure, as they do not become rusty.
- These possess an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, which makes them ideal for heavy traffic public or industrial settings.
- GRP manhole covers are made from recyclable glass fiber and polymer materials, which promote environmental sustainability.
- These covers are resistant to chemicals and extreme temperatures.
- They have a greater aesthetic appeal.
- These manhole covers have a much higher impact and UV-resistance.
Advantages of GRP Manhole Covers in High-Traffic Areas
There are many benefits of GRP manhole covers, but the following are particularly notable in the context of high-traffic areas.
1. Greater Durability
The biggest benefit of installing these manhole covers is that they don’t break that easily. GRP manhole covers give you high tenacity, high load-bearing capacity, exceptional strength/weight ratio, and amazing overall sturdiness.
Some estimates suggest that these covers can easily withstand up to 40 tons of weight, which means they do not fissure or deform like aluminum or concrete manhole covers. This makes them a perfect fit for heavy industrial use or in public areas with greater footfall.
2. High Impact and Corrosion Resistance
Another key factor that makes these covers suitable for high-traffic areas is their high impact and corrosion resistance. As mentioned before, these covers do not deform, crack, or break that easily due to their superior strength and flexibility.
Apart from that, unlike iron covers, GRP manhole covers are fully corrosion resistant. The material which is used to build these manhole covers is immune to the effects of continuous moisture exposure.
This means you can fully trust these manhole covers to stay intact even after extensive usage in areas with high moisture content, which increases safety both for the general public and the workers in industrial settings.
3. Anti-Slip Surfaces
GRP manhole covers are often reinforced with carbon, silicon, or similar sturdy materials to make their surfaces less slippery. This material offers a much better grip even in slightly wet areas like walking zones in rain or swimming pool sideways, which enhances safety in these high-traffic settings.
4. Non-Conducting Material
One major use of GRP manhole covers is in securing underground electrical utility systems. You can use these to cover manhole chambers that host electrical connections or equipment in industrial settings or urban development projects.
These non-metallic manhole covers are perfect insulators. Their non-conductive properties minimize electrical hazards, which makes them a suitable option for homes or commercial places where safety is the top priority.
5. Reduce Manhole Cover Theft Risks
And last but not least, GRP manhole covers are perfect for high-traffic locations as they are not an attractive target for thieves. For starters, these covers have a very low scrap value. The reason is that these covers are made from a composite material that cannot be recycled with simple means.
It is almost impossible to separate tightly bonded resins and glass fibers of the GRP, which limits its reusability or repurposing.
Moreover, unlike iron or steel, the resale value of the GRP material is not that much, which is another factor that prevents its theft and ensures greater safety in high-traffic locations.
Conclusion
GRP manhole covers have become the top choice in most urban development projects across the globe. The reasons for their huge success are plenty. They give you higher impact resistance, greater durability, affordability, longer manhole cover life, design flexibility, and corrosion resistance.
This makes these covers perfect for both residential as well as commercial spaces like roadways, highways, coastal or marine environments, industrial facilities, pedestrian areas, parks, and underground utility networks, to name just a few.
Unlike GRP manhole covers, traditional covers cannot withstand exposure to heavy loads, moisture, or high temperatures. Using these covers in high-traffic areas puts both the public safety and the utility systems the covers are meant to protect at great risk.
So, always opt for GRP manhole covers for your next project if durability and safety are your biggest concerns.
You can visit us at Naran Precast Concrete Co. to check out our premium quality Glass Reinforced Plastic/Polypropylene/ HDPE manhole chambers and GRP/DI manhole covers for use in high-traffic industrial or public spaces.