Access Covers

The ground beneath our feet can often be teeming with subsurface passages. These passages, ducts or trenches can carry service wiring or cabling; plumbing or drainage; mechanical heating or cooling shafts; ventilation or airing channels. All this chaos is camouflaged by smooth, even walkways, which would not be possible without hidden access covers and frames.

Access covers are installed on the surface to hide subsurface service points, stormwater pits, sewer infrastructure and underground services. These heavy duty covers prevent unwanted elements (like water onto an electric cable), or unauthorised access from occurring. Some may also be airtight covers, used to keep certain things in, such as offensive odours.

These versatile covers can be used anywhere – roads, pavements, walkways, carparks, driveways and internal floors. Different types of access covers come with various design features; for example, some can be lifted by just one person for those who work independently and others have been purpose-built, for frequent use by a maintenance team. Hidden access covers can either be hinged or lifted out with the aid of customer engineered lifting keys for ease of use.

Most access covers tend to be square or rectangular. They are designed to suit indoor and/or outdoor use and have been traditionally made from galvanised steel or aluminium. Access covers can be installed in a range of flooring including ceramic tiles, concrete, granite and so forth. Many applications require an aesthetically unobtrusive, subtle product, making ‘infill covers’ the ideal option.