UK Motorists to Drive Over Roadwork Trenches

Drivers will soon be able to avoid traffic jam due to holes or trenches in the road. Engineers came up with a solution to this problem to secure the road when workers have gone home or aren’t there. Covering up the roadworks with bright yellow plates which let motorists drive straight over them comes like a breath of fresh air for all motorists.

The plates are made of reinforced plastic, 5ft long and 1,5ft wide and are capable of withstanding up to 110 tons, Dailymail reported. Yet, they are less than half an inch thick so they will cause a minor bump when motorists drive over them. Let that be the only problem...

The new traffic clearing scheme will first start on major routes in London and if successful, they will be introduced outside of the capital as well.

David Owens, of Thames Water, said: “We're the first UK utility to use these new plates on such a scale and we hope it makes motorists' lives easier.

These plates will enable us to return roads we're working on back to use during rush-hour  -  before resuming our work when it quietens down."

“None of us can escape the frustration of sitting at roadworks manned by an invisible army of workers,” told mayor Boris Johnson to the source.

“Thames Water's agreement to cover trenches that are not in use with plates will allow these roads to be used as normal. If others follow suit we can keep people moving, not fuming,” he added

Weighing five and a half stone, the plates are lighter and stronger than steel plates used to cover roadwork trenches in the U.S., meaning a two-man team can move them on and off a hole in a few minutes without the need for machinery.