Conventional street castings have been used for decades to drain paved areas and to provide access to utility infrastructure beneath the pavement. When a street is to receive an asphalt overlay, the contractor first removes the asphalt and the concrete curb and gutter adjacent to the affected castings, shims each rim to the elevation of the proposed overlay, reconstructs the curb and gutter adjacent to the structure, and finally repairs the pavement which was removed. After the rim elevations for all structures have been adjusted, the contractor can begin to place the overlay itself.

Adjusting casting elevations in this manner is costly, labor intensive, and time consuming. A paving job which requires a single day for the actual placement of an asphalt overlay may require two additional days for the adjustment of rim elevations. During this time, motorists must weave their way through traffic barricades, and workers are subject to hazardous working conditions just beyond the barricades.

Conventional cast iron adjusting rings are limited to grade adjustments which exceed the thickness of the cover by approximately inch. Catch basin covers (such as an EJIW M1 cover) are typically 2 inches thick at their perimeter, and permit a minimum grade adjustment of approximately 2 inches.

Steel adjusting rings have been marketed which allow grade adjustments which are less than the thickness of the cover, but are not acceptable to road commissions and departments of transportation, as even stainless steel is subject to corrosion and bending.

The figure to the left shows Final Cut/font> components (gray cover and blue riser), as they would be installed in an existing catch basin (brown rim and green hood).

The installation is straightforward the old cover is first removed from the catch basin and recycled, the riser is installed and secured with two set screws, and the new cover is installed. The relative geometries of the new cover and the riser permit the cover to be elevated by 1 inches using a one piece, all cast iron riser despite the cover having a thickness of 2 inches at its perimeter. The rim elevation can be adjusted in minutes, immediately prior to the placement of the overlay.

The cover shown is very similar to the East Jordan Iron Works M1 cover, having the same number of square inches of open area, the same structural geometry, and the same gray iron material specification as that used by East Jordan Iron Works. The installation of the riser and cover does not reduce the clear opening of the casting; even the heads of the setscrews are recessed into the riser.

Note that once the Final Cut/font> riser and cover have been installed, additional risers can be installed (as shown at the bottom of this page) by simply removing the Final Cut/font> cover, installing an additional riser (securing the second riser to the first with setscrews), and replacing the cover.

The picture to the right indicates a new Final Cut/font>  rim design (in addition to the new riser and cover designs), which offers further benefits, as follows:

The base course of asphalt can be readily drained prior to the installation of the wearing course. This eliminates ponds around the catch basins in new developments - and the complaints which accompany the ponds.

The initial wearing course can be milled prior to placement of an initial overlay, without hand chipping around the casting

The combination of Final Cut/font> rim, riser, and cover allows the use of new BMPs for the control of sedimentation.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Dennis McNeely

Site Solutions, Inc.

5137 Pontiac Trail

Suite A

Ann Arbor, Michigan   48105

 

1 734 669-6132  Office

1 734 929-9938  Fax

1 800 276-8751  Toll Free

 

e-mail:  dmcneely@final-cut.biz

 

Click here for a 26 mb movie showing a installation procedures and municipal benefits associated with the Final Cut municipal casting system.

 

 

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