Install CAPs With Only One Team Member!
No need for cranes, crane operators, spotters, or extra crew to position heavy frames over an opening. With lightweight access covers, your team can handle installation quickly and safely—freeing up valuable labor and equipment to focus on pipe laying and other revenue-generating work. The result? Increased efficiency on the job site and reduced workers’ compensation risks.
Extracting CAPs is a Breeze!
In addition to avoid sticking to the frame due to corrosion, CAPs are half the weight. They won’t fly out, but they can be removed with basic tools and a tug. Superman is not needed! Victoria Hinojosa, Miss Texas USA 2021, shows us how it’s done.
Video: Safer Handling Compared to Traditional Options
Video demonstrates common struggles and handling risks that municipal operators face every day: extremely heavy traditional covers impose risks of back,
toe, and finger injuries. CAPs are half the weight. No special tools are needed…neither is Superman.
Click the “Play” arrow to see the video.
Lifting Traditional Manhole Covers – “Hazardous”
Heavy Manhole Cover Lifting Costs Millions!
Back strain injuries from lifting traditional manhole covers can cost mid-sized utility operations $700,000 to over $1,000,000 annually. With each incident averaging $70,000 and 10–15 injuries per year, the risk adds up quickly.
CAP composite covers provide heavy-duty solutions at half to one-third the weight of traditional options—reducing strain, lowering injury rates, and creating a safer, more cost-efficient work environment.
Spinal Compression deemed “Hazardous”
“…it becomes clear that manual lifting of (cast iron) manhole cover is extremely hazardous and has the potential for inflicting very serious injuries.”
– An Ergonomic Evaluation of Steel and Composite Manhole (Access) Covers, University of Cincinnati Ergonomics and Engineering Controls Research Laboratory
Costly Devices Required – Still Not Total Solution
This type of lifting assist is a must for safe traditional manhole cover lifting. But the average cost of $1,200 per unit and set up time should be considered as part of the added cost. Plus, these devices do not address initial movement on and off a truck bed, but merely hole maintenance activities.
Video: Improve Speed, Cost & Safety – Lay More Pipe
Manhole covers and frames can weigh as much as 350 lbs each. This introduces obvious safety concerns for workers as well as slow installation with special machinery. CAP traffic-rated, Made-In-USA, ACE award-winning, composite manhole cover assemblies are typically less than 1/3 the weight of iron assemblies. This video shows a contractor installing a traditional frame using a crane. Devote more of your crew to laying pipe and less to setting manholes. CAPs can be set with only one worker.
Back Injuries Predicted To Increase with Cover Growth
Back Injuries Plague the US Workforce
” …over 36 percent of injuries involving missed workdays were the result of shoulder and back injuries. Overexertion and cumulative trauma were the biggest factors in these injuries.”
Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics
Confined Space Concerns Cause Increased Manhole Cover Weights
O.S.H.A. (29 CFR 1910.146) requires special procedures for confined spaces and describes a portal exit 24 inches or less “Restricted” for rescue service (Appendix F) . Since most standard manholes are 22 to 24-inch clear openings, the future holes will be larger than today’s. 30-inch clear openings are now mandatory for new manholes in Texas, New Hampshire and an increasing number of states.
Iron Density is 4 Times Composite Density
Density of Cast Iron= 7.2 grams/cubic cm
Density of Composite = 1.8 grams /cubic cm
That means for the same change in the cover volume, the already heavier iron cover will increase 4 times more than the composite!!
Example: 125 lbs 26″ iron cover might increase to 205 lbs for 32″ cover while a composite cover of the same dimension would increase from around 75 lbs to 95 lbs – gaining 20 lbs vs. 80 lbs.
