Tops in composite materials

Tops for sewerage applications are constructed standard of cast iron. These are certified under the COPRO mark, or under the BENOR mark in the case of tops for roads.

There is a market trend toward the use of tops in composite (plastic).

The certification of composite tops under the COPRO mark must be done in accordance with the European standard NBN EN 124-5. This standard applies to gully tops and manhole tops in vehicular and pedestrian areas. Part 5 concerns grates and tops for manholes and gullies made of composite materials. After this standard was revised, COPRO began preparations for certification of tops in composite materials. Partly at the request of producers and suppliers, a sectoral commission was set up to establish the certification rules.

The meetings of this sectoral commission resulted in Application Regulation TRA 33 for product certification of tops made of composite materials for gully tops and manhole tops in vehicular and pedestrian areas. This TRA has been in force since 13 November 2018.

Public and private developers therefore are able to prescribe composite tops with the COPRO mark.

• On each product: reference to the COPRO mark
• 8-digit quick code on the delivery note, based on which the product datasheet can be found on the COPRO Extranet (extranet.copro.eu)

Composite tops have important advantages. They are considerably lighter than cast iron products and therefore more ergonomic, they have higher corrosion resistance, and are radiation-permeable (for telecom applications).

You can find the reference documents here.

Since it is also permitted to use the tops in composite materials in road applications (class D400 according to the NBN EN 124-1 standard), governments are requesting that additional technical specifications be established in addition to NBN EN 124-5. This certification will be done under the BENOR mark.

COPRO therefore hopes in the short term to see these technical specifications, also discussed during the meetings of the sectoral commission, laid down in a PTV so that in the future quality, certified composite tops for roads can be offered on the market.