Trench Safety Equipment

The National Trench Safety “Work Zone Safety System” is a fully integrated, engineered solution to address today’s underground contractors need for a product or products to protect workers and the public in and around an excavation.  The NTS Work Zone Safety System includes fall protection, access, egress and recovery product(s) designed for the unique needs and products found in today’s routine and highly complex excavations.

Hydraulic Vertical Shores are the quickest way to shore a trench. They are designed to prevent cave-ins in all but the most unstable soil conditions by supporting the side walls of the trench through hydraulic pressure. All vertical shores are installed and removed from top of the trench.

NTS Multi-Shores are specially designed, large heavy duty vertical shores, for use in trenching projects where the depth of the trench is so deep that it exceeds the capacity of the standard vertical shore products. With many of the same operational advantages as standard vertical shores, the NTS Multi-Shore units have 1 1/8” CDX Plywood attached to Heavy Duty aluminum rails.

Horizontal Waler Systems are designed for less stable soil conditions such as Soil Types C-60 and C-80 requiring tight or intermittent sheeting. Lightweight aluminum alloy construction allows for quick installation and removal from above the trench.

National Trench Safety rents and sells a variety of aluminum trench shields to meet specific project needs. Our aluminum shield lineup includes Lite Guard Aluminum Shields, Corrugated Wall Aluminum Shields, Smooth Wall Aluminum Lite Shields and Aluminum Panel Shields.  Each aluminum shield has unique design characteristics that affect its performance and strengths.

A lightweight, modular and completely portable system that a two-person crew can assemble by hand for easy placement by a rubber tire backhoe. Modular shield panels offer the flexibility to match changing job-site trench protection requirements.

NTS maintains one of the nation’s largest rental fleets of trench shields from some of the premier manufacturers including SBH North America, and GME. All shields are manufactured to NTS’ stringent specifications to withstand the most demanding applications.

NTS offers a broad array of manhole shields that are specifically designed for personnel protection during manhole installations, point repairs, pipe taps, junction box installations and point inspections.

NTS carries two models of hydraulic manhole systems: hydraulic manhole shields and hydraulic manhole braces.  These systems build upon the concept of steel manhole shields, adding a hydraulic element that can provide proactive soil support during the excavation process.

The SBH Slide Rail System is the internationally recognized best product in the market today. NTS is proud to be one of the few US companies qualified to rent and to sell the SBH System.

For pit applications that will be in the ground for an extended time period, NTS recommends Beam and Plate systems, which are an alternative to Slide Rail and Tight Sheeting products.  Beam and Plate systems offer large free span work areas and are usually less expensive for the extended duration projects.

Hydraulic excavation braces provide an enhancement to typical tight sheeting for larger excavations.   The braces are very versatile and can be used with a variety of systems including steel sheeting, beam and plate systems and slide rail systems to provide increased system functionality.

NTS offers a wide variety of cold and hot rolled steel sheeting to meet the unique needs of each project.  The NTS profiles are available in interlocking and overlapping designs, with common sheet lengths readily available.  Corner sheets are also available for select profiles.

Steel Sheeting Frames can be used to provide positive soil support in the worst soil conditions.  Rugged steel guides are used to form the edge of the protective system with steel sheets inserted through the guides to provide soil support to the depth of the excavation.

NTS steel crossing plates feature hardened threaded weld nuts and engineered lifting device with an industry standard minimum safety factor of 5-to-1 to provide safe, easy lifting of the plate from either side.

As safety has become increasingly paramount on projects, new methods have emerged for contractors to facilitate safe travel across trenches. NTS carries a wide variety of aluminum trench bridges and telescoping walkways to meet varying contractor needs.

Pipe Pullers are mechanical units that are used to apply the necessary mechanical forces required to safely and cleanly “join” large diameter concrete and culvert pipe in the trenches to hopefully eliminate joint and bell damage. NTS carries a large fleet of JB Pipe Pullers featuring a solid bar design as well as conventional cable pipe pulling units for rental and sale.

The Grave Shield is a unique and new trench shield system that is specifically designed for grave sites and cemetery operators. As many in the industry are aware, most graves sizes used today fall under OSHA’s definition of an excavation and therefore need some form of protective system to ensure worker and the general public safety while the grave is being excavated and open for use.