Trench drain

It is designed for the rapid evacuation of surface water or for the containment of utility lines or chemical spills.

Employing a solid cover or grating that is flush with the surrounding surface, this drain is commonly made of concrete in-situ and with the option of using polymer- or metal-based liners or a channel former to aid in channel crafting and slope formation.

A curbless or hobless entrance for special needs access is more readily achieved with a modular system, as the levelling of the shower floor to the bathroom floor is inherently problematic with non-modular systems as they have no on-site adjustment.

The forms attach to a prefabricated frame and grate system that can then be easily set in the trough and aligned for the pouring of concrete.

Pre-cast trench drains are made in a factory that specializes in making concrete shapes.

Like in the cast-in-place method, a metal frame is attached to the form and concrete is poured and finished in a factory atmosphere.

Once a trough is dug, the pre-cast trench sections can be installed and quickly be put into service through numerous methods.

A person generally can go to a pre-caster or a distributor and buy 50 feet (15 m) of trench drain; the cost of the material to create the trench drains can be more expensive than simply using cast-in-place systems, however the money saved through installation, maintenance, and longevity heavily outweighs those costs.

Made from materials such as polymer concrete, fiberglass, structural plastic and steel, liner systems are the channel and grate components that are assembled in the trench and around which concrete is poured to form a drain system.

By themselves, these liner systems do not have the strength and integrity to hold up under the physical requirements needed for the drain.

The use of trench drains in construction began with the commission by the British Airports Authority of a company called Gatic.

Following the use of slot drainage at airports, the manufacturers began engineering slot drainage for other types of construction project, including ports, docks, industrial areas, motorways, roads, car parks and urban developments.