Four Questions to Help Your Find the Perfect Heavy Duty Drainage System for Your Car Park

A heavy duty drainage system consists of channels with grates on top of them. Rain water and other liquids run past the grates and through the channels to the drainage spot of your choice. These systems are an incredibly convenient and popular way to ensure rain or storm water doesn't build up on your land.

If you are installing a heavy duty drainage system under a car park, there are several things you need to keep in mind. To ensure you select the right system for your needs, work through these questions:

1. What loads do your channels and grates need to accommodate?

The load capacity of channels and grates can be extremely high. For example, most channels and grates installed in the parking lots of petrol stations have to be able to withstand the weight of cars as well as heavy construction equipment and trucks.

When choosing the load capacity of your heavy duty drainage system, you need to consider which type of vehicles are likely to park in or drive through your car park. For example, if your car park is near a busy freeway, you are likely to get lots of trucks. However, if you are in the middle of a city on a narrow road, most of your patrons are likely to be in cars or relatively lightweight passenger vehicles.

2. Do you need a theft-proof design?

The grates of most heavy duty drainage systems feature metal, and unfortunately, metal is attractive to many thieves. Whilst copper (because of its value) is the favoured metal by most thieves, metal thieves target a range of metals, as it's possible to sell anything from aluminium to brass to stainless steel. You don't want a thief lifting off your grates in the middle of the night so that he or she can sell them to a scrap metal dealer.

If you are worried about theft, look for drainage systems that have locking mechanisms for the grates. These typically feature a special part that securely connects the grate to the channel. For example, one type of locking system has a locking bar that is bolted to the grate and that slots into a recess within the channel. To visualise this concept, imagine how a deadbolt is attached to a door but slots into the door frame to keep them locked together.

3. Is your land naturally sloped?

If the land of your car park is naturally sloped, gravity will help rainwater move through the channels of your drainage system. However, if the land is not sloped, the water may just pool in the channels and refuse to drain away. There are two ways to deal with this issue.

You can dig a sloped channel before laying your drainage system, and let the slope you create help to move the water through your car park. Alternatively, you can buy drainage channels that have a built-in fall. This means that the channels themselves feature a slant to help encourage the water to move.

4. What is the path you want your water to take?

As you shop for a heavy duty drainage system, imagine the path you want rainwater to take through your car park. Most drainage systems offer a range of straight pieces that you can easily snap together, and in addition, most of these systems also come with 90-degree angle turns.

If the path you want your drainage system to take involves lots of twists and turns, you may need to find a drainage system that includes mitred edges as well as straight and corner pieces. These special pieces allow you to direct the flow of your drainage in virtually any direction.

For more tips on selecting the perfect heavy duty drainage system for your car park, contact a drainage expert, such as those at HYDRO CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS, for advice and guidance.