In industrial environments, it is often necessary to run utility lines while, whether they are electrical and communications cables, water hoses, or hoses that contain the oil or chemicals. This review whitepaper traditional methods to protect the lines from vehicle traffic. Limitations of each approach are discussed.

Traditionally, utility line protection from vehicular traffic has been rather primitive. In concrete, scaffolding board two would run side by side, the line is placed between them, and the third scaffold boards nailed on top to produce a road junction. In soil, the trench is often dug up and buried lines. In both cases, power or communication lines may also be suspended above the head.

Using a scaffold board to protect the line, which has become common practice in sites such as chemical plants, are fraught with problems. First, they are expensive to build. Boards are heavy, so it requires two supervisors and sometimes, depending on work rules. Scaffold boards are nailed together, but once in service, breakaway board and nail it back out, causing the tires on the vehicle crossing. Board must be replaced, and sometimes the very utility lines that are designed to replace the board becomes damaged. At the end of the work, crossing should be dismantled, and removed the board … they are no longer suitable for scaffolding. A major refinery construction cost estimates, maintenance, and deconstructing a typical scaffold boards cut at more than $ 1,500 for “change” 90-day regular maintenance, not counting the cost and aggravation of a flat tire. And at least one incident occurred in which a nail is driven into the high voltage line by a heavy track vehicle, causing an emergency shutdown of process units and create immediate danger to the track vehicle operators.

In work sites such as oil rigs, trenching has been a dominant method of protecting lines. Many oil and gas wells today lay a soil cement barrier to prevent any spilled material from absorbing into the earth and contaminating the site. To trench, however, a crew is called in and intentionally breaches that barrier. A trench is dug, PVC pipe is run, and the utility lines threaded through the pipe. At the end of the job (often only 45 days or so on gas wells before it moves to the next site), the lines have to be dug up and retrieved.

Stringing lines overhead is sometimes done, but is also costly and presents a limit to the height of traffic that can pass underneath.

As an innovative alternative, many industrial sites have decided to use products that are explicitly built to temporarily protect hoses and cables. These “temporary road crossings” are built out of steel to endure the rugged environment present in chemical plants, refineries, shipyards, and oil rigs. They only require one man and a forklift to install, are modular in design, and are available for rental or sale. Rental “boards” provide the advantage of being low cost, only being on site when they are needed, and are funded out of an operating budget. Most users find the cost of using these steel “boards” or “ramps” is 40% lower than using scaffold boards, and 10% lower than trenching.

Whatever course you choose to protect your hoses and cables, first consider the safety that the protection offers, as well as the impact on the environment. Then, be sure to consider the total cost to construct, maintain, and deconstruct the protection – including costs of damage to the lines being protected or the vehicles that are involved. You may conclude, as many others have, that using a “for purpose” steel road crossing provides the lowest cost along with the most peace of mind.

Michael W. O’Rourke is General Manager of Brahman Systems, LLC, which provides the only all-steel enclosed hose and cable protection system… “Built Brahman Tough”. The patented design is the new standard in temporary hose and cable protection, and is available for rental or sale at http://www.brahmansystems.com