Underground Cable Protection

Underground cable protection, from cable tiles to marker posts

The range divides into products laid on the service to stop a strike, products buried in the backfill to warn of it, and markers that show the route at the surface.

Cable protection tiles

Heavy duty cable protection tiles are laid directly over a cable or duct, where they take the blow of a spade, pick or bucket before it reaches the service. They are the choice for high voltage routes and suit any buried utility that needs a physical shield.

Cable protection roll

A cable protection roll, also called cable cover strip, is a continuous plastic strip that unrolls along the trench over the service and does not shatter on impact. It gives more protection than warning tape in a single pass and suits long cable runs where tiles would take longer to lay, and the cable protection roll for electric cables is the version for power routes.

Underground warning tape

Underground warning tape is a non-adhesive printed film buried in the backfill above a pipe or cable, so that anyone excavating later uncovers the warning before the service.

Warning detection tape

Warning detection tape is printed tape with a stainless steel trace wire running through it. It is the tape to choose where the route has to be found from the surface as well as seen when it is dug up.

Warning mesh and detectable mesh

Warning mesh is a brightly coloured, high strength polyethylene mesh laid in the backfill to warn an excavator that a cable or pipe lies below. Detectable warning mesh adds a tracer wire, so the route can also be located before digging.

Utility and pipe protection slabs

Utility and pipe protection slabs are precast concrete slabs, reinforced with mesh on both faces, laid over water pipes, gas mains and power cables where vehicles will pass above. Tiles stop a hand tool or bucket during later excavation, whereas slabs spread the weight of traffic at a site crossing, haul road or entrance. An open trench that traffic must cross needs road plates instead.

Concrete service marker blocks

Concrete service marker blocks are set into the ground at the surface and name the service beneath them in printed lettering. They suit footpaths, verges and hardstanding, where a block sits low and a post could be struck or removed.

Cable and hydrant marker posts

Precast concrete marker posts stand above ground, so a route can be read from a distance across open land, along road verges and on rural lines. Electric cable marker posts mark the line of a buried cable, and hydrant marker posts identify the position of fire hydrants on a water main, in heights to suit the setting.

Laying warning tape and cable tiles above a service

The build-up runs from the service upwards. The pipe, cable or duct is laid on its bedding and surrounded to the designer's detail, then heavy duty tiles, a cable protection roll or protection slabs go directly over it. Backfill follows, and the warning tape, detection tape or mesh is laid flat along the line of the service partway up, at a level an excavator meets well before reaching the service. The trench is then reinstated, with the tape running unbroken along the route, and concrete marker blocks or posts are set at the surface where the service owner requires them. The depth of the tape and the cover over the service come from the service owner's or designer's specification.

Cable covers for exposed and surface cables

Cables on or above the ground need a different kind of cover from buried ones. Hi-vis cable covers are hexagonal-based cones placed over a cable left exposed in an open excavation, and they come plain or printed Danger High Voltage or Keep Left.

Cable and hose cover ramps are channelled ramps laid across a site road, car park, footpath or event walkway, and they carry vehicles and pedestrians over the cables and hoses that run through them. The cable protector ramp is the same format. Choose the cone covers to mark and guard a cable inside an open excavation, and the ramps where people or vehicles have to cross a live cable or hose above ground.