Until now, water authorities and local councils installed manhole covers solely to provide access for maintenance personnel to work in underground networks.

As such, they’ve been constructed as robust and durable iron castings that can endure all the required traffic loads in all sorts of weather conditions; and can then be opened to provide access when required. But monitoring this infrastructure has required maintenance crews to be on standby 24/7 at enormous cost to rate payers.

Now, there’s keen interest in an EJ innovation that utilises manhole covers as information portals, and gathers data on a network and transmits that information via a low power wide area network (LPWA) to a data collection hub. Because manhole covers are located on top of many strategic assets such as sewer, stormwater, water, gas, lighting, electricity and telecommunications, they are ideal to use for essential data collection. In short, EJ is converting static ‘lumps of iron’ into intelligent e-monitoring systems with iCover™.

By marrying digital communication technology with strategically located manhole covers, we can create a network of unobtrusive “eyes and ears” in the ground. EJ Asia Pacific, in conjunction with local authorities, has been trialling various covers to establish which type best allow transmission of wireless data. Both our full composite covers from the US and our hinged MAESTRO™ cast ductile iron covers from France (with Australian-made fibre composite aerial plates) have proven to be hugely successful.

Now that EJ has partnered with a leading LPWA network provider, we are able to offer you a tested and one-stop-shop solution for real time monitoring. We have the antenna covers, composite covers, various sensors, sensor brackets, custom ID systems and can perform the LPWA sign-up, system initialisation, training and account management.

With the EJ iCover™, monitor networks streaming real time information to review water levels, flow rates, temperature, presence of steam and many other indicators.

For more information, contact your nearest branch:

QLD: 07 3216 5000

NSW: 02 9757 3862

VIC: 03 9792 5144

WA: 08 9209 2930