Emergency & Service Access Routes

Fire access routes are roads, paths, tracks or reinforced grassed routes to a building, new development, domestic housing or commercial property to satisfy planning regulations. An access road to provide fire engines and emergency vehicles with a clear route to a building in case of an emergency is often specified in construction projects. Engineered reinforced surface solutions which are also SuDS compliant and environmentally sympathetic are often specified.

Fire access routes need to combine safety, sustainability and practicality with a stable, durable, engineered and aesthetically acceptable surface. Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) which attenuate surface water run-off must be considered alongside options such as reinforced gravel and grass surfaces to further limit visual and environmental impact.

A robust cellular permeable paving grid system is often specified for fire access routes and emergency vehicle roads as they are often required to be part of a reinforced grassed surface. Interlocking porous plastic pavers provide a surface stabilisation solution that is free-draining and can be designed in conjunction with a SuDS system to manage rainwater run-off.

Cellular plastic porous pavers can be filled with a selected gravel to provide a SuDS compliant free draining retained gravel access route, or filled with grass to blend in with the natural environment; accommodating the increased desire for green surfacing wherever practical. Where an invisible structure grass access route is required, a reinforced rootzone system is often considered, where small plastic mesh filaments are blended into the rootzone to provide a stable grassed surface that looks like any normal grass, with the added benefit of being able to support the heavy loads from a fire engine or emergency service vehicle.

Typical applications

  • Emergency vehicle access
  • Grass or gravel surfacing options

Benefits

  • Stabilisation of weak ground
  • Free-draining rainwater management solutin
  • Prevention of rutting
  • Versatile & aesthetic landscaping options
  • Expertise & design service

ABG supply the following products that are suitable for stabilising grass or gravel fire access routes:

Sudspave Permeable Paving Grids

Sudspave plastic paving grids are an interlocking permeable paving system designed for traffic applications where a free-draining stabilised surface is desired. The pavers can be filled with a gravel or a grass finish and are ideal for fire access lanes. With a grass fill, the pavers allow optimum grass growth and a high load-bearing, stabilised surface. The construction profile allows rainwater to run-through the paver fill, through the permeable subbase and into the sub-soil.

 

Truckcell Heavy-Duty Porous Pavers

Truckcell™ is a heavy-duty cellular porous paving system designed for heavy vehicles over grass or permeable gravel access roads. With a gravel fill, the porous plastic grids provide a structural surface that is SuDS source control compliant. A grass fill is suitable where natural grass is required in addition to a reinforced access route.

Grass Reinforcement

Advanced Turf System (Netlon ATS) is a high-performance, mesh-element grass reinforcement plastic mesh rootzone system. The reinforced grass system provides an aesthetic, SuDS compliant free-draining grassed surface, capable of sustaining fire engines and emergency service vehicle loadings.

The plastic mesh reinforces the grass surface rootzone, making it suitable for fire access route applications.

The ABG technical team work with clients to design and supply suitable SuDS compliant fire access route solutions that meet environmental guidelines and local planning requirements. Contact our team with your project requirements.

 

Case studies

Additional information

Contact ABG for further information

Fill out our quick contact form with your product, application, technical or sales enquiry and one of our team will be in touch soon.

Contact