To help you with our products, below are some of the questions we receive most often.
If your issue isn’t listed and you have a general technical enquiry or require more information, please contact our technical department using our online enquiry form, or call us.
Do I need a Cattle Grid or Drainage Grid?
Cattle / Deer Grids
If you need to deter stock such as cattle, sheep and deers then you will need a cattle grid. Cattle grids can also act as a drainage grid. 110mm holes are in the bases to either pipe up to, or for self-draining land, the water would just seep out of.
Drainage Grids
These grids are only for applications where you have a problem with water and drainage, and don’t have to deter cattle and deers etc. If you need to divert large volumes of water, where debris may travel with the water – our drainage grids have large gaps that will prevent the grating from becoming clogged. For applications where pedestrians need to walk on the drainage grid, there is a pedestrian grating which can be applied to the grating. For more domestic applications, where there isn’t quite the serious volumes of water and a pedestrian grating is required, the channel drains prove very popular and offer a very cost effective solution.
What is BS4008:2006?
This is a British Standard which specifies the requirements for cattle grids suitable for the containment of stock whilst permitting the passage of pneumatic tyred vehicles. The standard covers grids suitable for the containment of cattle, sheep, deer, goats and pigs. The standard gives recommendations on the use, location, design, construction and maintenance of cattle grids.
All of our cattle grids fully comply and in many areas exceed the requirements of the above British Standard.
What is BS EN 1991-2 Part 2?
This is a european standard relating to traffic loads on bridges. Specifically it defines models of traffic loads for the design of road bridges, foot bridges and railway bridges.
What is the minimum pit width across the road I can have?
The minimum pit width as recommended by the British Standard is 2750mm (9ft). This is to allow access by emergency vehicles.
All of our cattle and deer grids have a minimum pit width of 3000mm (10ft) as standard.
Narrow grids with a pit width of 9ft can be manufactured to order.
What is the minimum length in the direction of the road I can have?
The minimum length is 2600mm (8ft 6″) for a cattle grid and 4000mm (13ft) for a deer grid.
As standard we manufacture all of our cattle grids to these lengths as a minimum, however variations on these sizes can be made to order.
What is the depth of a cattle or deer grid?
The depth of a grid should be a minimum of 250mm and not greater than 450mm.
From the point of view of animal deterrance, there is no need for a pit to be deeper than 250mm. This is considered a preferred dimension in terms of animal welfare. The increased depth does however permit drainage falls.
What is the difference between general load capability of a grid and the axle loadings?
The general load capability of a grid is a way of describing the overall weight of a vehicle which the grid is capable of taking. For example a 44 tonne or a 18 tonne hgv.
However, the weight of all vehicles has it’s weight distributed between it’s axles.
Example:
A standard 44 tonne hgv has 6 axles and a standard 18 tonne hgv has two axles, the axle weights for these vehicles is shown below and typically illustrates that the lighter vehicle of the two has more weight on each of it’s axles –
44 tonnes – 7.5 tonne per axle
18 tonnes – 9 tonne per axle
The above example is to demonstrate that the axle loading capability of a cattle grid is really, more important than the general load capability of a cattle grid. The above information is purely to illustrate the point in simple terms and is not necessarily an accurate analysis of the exact distribution of the weight on each of the axles.
Factors which can determine the axle weight of a vehicle include the distance between the axles; the number of axles; single or twin wheeled axles, single or twin tyres; standard or wide tyres …. the list goes on.
All of our cattle grids have the capability of taking hgvs. With the exception of our highway grid and 80 tonne grid which have greater axle loadings, they all have axle loadings of 10.5 tonnes. The light duty grid however is only designed to withstand these weights on an occasional basis. The heavy duty hgv grid is designed to withstand these weights on a daily basis and for this reason we market these grids as hgv grids.
Our all steel highway grid has increased axle loadings of 16 tonnes, which accommodates the abnormal loading requirements for a public highway grid.
How can I compare your grids with those from other companies?
When comparing the prices of cattle and deer grids from one company to another, it’s important that the specification of the grids is looked at. It’s easy to compare the price of a grid but how do you know it’s a genuinely better price for the same product ? and how do you know if it really is what it should be? The faqs above will give you a basic understanding of the british standard requirements for an acceptable cattle/deer grid and together with the following 3 simple questions which you should be able to ask any manufacturer / retailer, you will be able to truly compare products and make an informed choice.
1. What is the size and thickness of the steel used for the grid top? (heavier steel = stronger grid)
2. What is the gap between the bars on the grid top (130mm min.) ? (narrower gap = stronger grid)
3. How many piers support the grid underneath ? (more support piers = stronger grid)
Any questions we haven’t answered?
