Skip to main content

Efficiency on a plate

Plate Locks is described as a cost effective and reusable road plate securing system said to be an alternative to cold patch asphalting. The system fastens to the road, preventing any sliding and shifting of the plate. Made from a recyclable, safety orange polypropylene thermoplastic, Plate Locks come in 1.52metre lengths and are said to be adjustable to fit any sized plate or configuration of multiple plates. This, coupled with being easily transferable from job to job, is said to allow the product to pay
June 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Plate Locks is said to be a cost-effective and reusable road plate securing system
Plate Locks are described as a cost effective and reusable road plate securing system said to be an alternative to cold patch asphalting.

The system fastens to the road, preventing any sliding and shifting of the plate. Made from a recyclable, safety orange polypropylene thermoplastic, Plate Locks come in 1.52metre lengths and are said to be adjustable to fit any sized plate or configuration of multiple plates. This, coupled with being easily transferable from job to job, is said to allow the product to pay for itself after one or two uses. 

“I was sceptical,” says Tad Blanton, field operations supervisor for Medford, Oregon Public Works Department in the United States, “but we set up a demonstration in our yard. We tested the proto-type wedges with a 1-inch thick plate over an uneven asphalt haul road. We used plate shims in several places to give the plate full bearing."

“The plate got an estimated 100 trips a day across it with all heavy trucks and heavy equipment. We left it in place for about 19 days and the plate never moved. I was impressed. Not only did the plate stay in place without cold-mix, the Plate Locks strips made the ride across the plate better than cold-mix generally would. ”

Plate Locks, developed by a company of the same name (5933 Plate Locks), are also said to be environmentally safe, which is not said to be the case for cold mix. It is reusable, has no off gassing of VOC’s and is recyclable. There are also said to be no harmful chemicals that can contaminate storm drains. Another Plate Locks advocate is Rand LeBaron, president of Pilot Rock Excavation. 

“Our previous practice for securing trench plates was to surround them with cold-mix asphalt,” says LeBaron. “That old method has literally kept us awake at night with worry about plate-walk in heavily travelled areas. Plate Locks has ended our worries about the trench plates moving and causing a serious accident.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Rock Hawg shows cutting edge
    February 28, 2012
    A new machine described as an excavator, trencher and crusher is the first of its type operating in the UK and Europe. Westquay Trading, the exclusive distributors for Tesmec products, has introduced the first 126tonne Rock Hawg, which has been sold to contractor A J Gammond of Malvern, England, pioneers of the use of the machines in the UK and Ireland.
  • Granite pilots Volvo’s Compact Assist to new heights in Sacramento
    November 9, 2017
    While not required for its Sacramento Airport contract, Granite Construction* is getting to grips with IC specifications thanks to Volvo CE’s Compact Assist. In the US, 23 states have written intelligent compaction (IC) specifications for asphalt paving jobs and more states are expected to follow. Among those states with IC specs is California.
  • Warm asphalt is a hot topic
    June 12, 2012
    Lower temperature mixes – a key advance in bitumen technology - Kristina Smith reports Warm and cold mix asphalts were not on the original agenda for this year’s Eurasphalt & Eurobitume Congress, being held in Istanbul in June. But when the organisers took a look through the papers submitted for their sustainability-themed event, they realised that this is one of the industry’s hottest topics. “We hadn’t quite anticipated the high level of research in this area,” says E&E’s technical programme committee c
  • Much from Mazio, the SKID Paver
    May 25, 2022
    SKID Paver’s retractable hydraulic screed allows the operator to work around obstacles.