Civilcast’s new range of custom road pits are providing unparalleled quality and performance for what is an essential, albeit often understated, component in infrastructure development. Brian Lee, Civilcast Product Development Manager explains.
In the world of road building and urban infrastructure, unseen components often shoulder the biggest risks. Road pits are a fundamental component – engineered for strength, reliability and compliance, and quietly protecting pavement, assets and public safety for decades.
For years, Civilcast has prided itself on delivering innovative precast, and steel infrastructure products and expertise, with every unit engineered to enhance performance, durability and compliance on projects across Australia.
Its road pits are no exception, as Brian Lee, Product Development Manager – Civilcast explains.
“From an actual product perspective and the cosmetics of the product, there’s inevitably similarities to what’s already out there,” he says.
“However, we strongly believe our offering is a higher quality product. That’s something that we’ve always prided ourselves on, alongside delivering exceptional service and fast turnaround times.”
Civilcast’s road pits are designed and manufactured with longevity in mind and are engineered for durability, compliance and real-world constructability.
But what does this look like?
Lee says that for Civilcast’s road pits, delivering on these promises all started during early development and testing, with a strong focus on allowing project teams to move from drawing to manufacturing and delivery with confidence.
Civilcast’s early development process included extensive prototype testing at its dedicated facility, with oversight and certification from independent third-party engineers.
“The first step is proving that your product not only complies with, but surpasses the required structural integrity and durability standards. That can be done in two different ways,” Lee says. “The first is through engineered design, leveraging advanced modelling and digital design tools.
“We wanted to go above and beyond standard requirements. Even slight deviations from specifications can trigger additional prototype and batch testing for some transport authorities. We have our own dedicated testing facility at Erskine Park, which was used to conduct a comprehensive and rigorous phase of product testing.”
This rigorous in-house approach allowed Civilcast to refine its product, ensure compliance with strict road authority standards, and guarantee high quality and durability from the outset. All under the supervision of an independent third party.
“The results were outstanding, proving we could deliver far beyond the requirements and expectations” Lee says.
“The performance and engineering compliance findings were compiled into a report using the data collected during testing.”
The success of this initial phase has enabled Civilcast’s road pits to meet relevant Australian Standards, including approvals from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and compliance with VicRoads requirements.
“Compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s about safeguarding projects from delays and ensuring long-term reliability for asset owners,” says Lee.
“When you specify a Civilcast pit, you’re specifying a product that has already been proven, tested and approved by the relevant authorities.”
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Behind design
Beyond satisfying some of the strictest compliance standards currently used by industry, Civilcast is also determined to provide a seamless and flexible design process.
Civilcast offers a range of standard sizes for fast turnarounds, plus the capability to produce custom units for non-standard depths, inlet configurations, access arrangements and service penetrations.
For design teams and contractors that need a tailored solution without the usual cost or lead-time penalty of cast-in-place alternatives, Civilcast’s road pits are an ideal option, Lee says.
“We get heavily involved from the very beginning, right at the RFQ (request for quote) stage. Sometimes we provide a standard solution based on the client’s design, while other times we suggest slight variations that can save them money. Compliance documents are always available in this case to help get approval on their end.”
Civilcast’s in-house design team can generate precise two-dimensional drawings, detailed three-dimensional views and lifting methodologies. All of which are delivered quickly and most importantly, accurately.
This not only streamlines approvals but also accelerates project workflows, getting pits onsite sooner and reducing overall project risk.
Having both testing and design in-house helps to establish a seamless process, allowing required adjustments to be quickly implemented and applied.
“If a change is needed, we can go back and do prototype testing, adjust the design and test again along the way to make sure we’re satisfying the standard, all without involving external parties,” Lee says. “This helps make the process as efficient as possible.”
Managing manufacture
Much like its design and testing process, Civilcast also fully manufactures each road pit at one of its factory sites.
Viewed as an “engineering solution” rather than just a road pit, each unit benefits from high performance concrete mixes, controlled curing, and reinforcement designs engineered for site-specific loads.
Civilcast has also considered international best practice when it comes to mould design and technology. This included a trip to the United States, to learn and ensure that the company is optimising manufacturing quality and efficiency.
“Since then, we’ve acquired technology that’s allowed us to deliver a parallel wall in the pit, meaning it’s the same dimension at the base of the pit as it is at the mouth of the pit,” Lee says.
“That’s basically unheard of in the standard road pit range in Australia.”
Civilcast also offers several complementary products alongside its road pit range, including a vast range of options for steel grates, drainage lintels for inlets and more.
Once manufacture is complete, Civilcast’s precast units arrive ready for installation with lifting anchors and neatly integrated cast-in features, making onsite handling safer and faster.
Access considerations are also front of mind. Civilcast road pits can be supplied ready to accept locking covers, accommodate service routing and provide options for safe, code-compliant access for maintenance crews.
While it’s still early days, Lee says feedback so far has been very positive, not only around the performance of the road pit, but also the full service and customer experience provided.
With hope to expand production capacity and the company’s national footprint, Civilcast looks to be in the box seat for the future growth of its road pit offering.
This article was originally published in the November edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
