HWC-PL Series
Pitless (Above Ground) Weighbridge
Above-ground weighbridge for sites where civil pit excavation isn't practical — lower construction cost, easy maintenance access.
- Capacity range
- 30–100 T
- Category
- Weighbridges
- Technical details
- Available below
Manufacturing
Built, installed & supported by HMT
Compliance support
Calibration & Legal Metrology guidance
System ready
Automation, ticketing & ERP integration
01Overview
Manufactured from IS:2062 mild structural steel, with main beams welded to cross beams for a rigid, heavy-duty structure. The deck sits above ground, so the main beams themselves act as guiding rails — no separate guide rails needed — and drainage is simpler than a pit installation.
02Is this right for your site?
Choose a pitless weighbridge when access and drainage matter.
A pitless installation keeps the deck above ground. It is a strong fit where excavation is undesirable, component access is important, and the site can accommodate approach ramps.
- ✓No pit excavation preferred
- ✓Simpler drainage and maintenance access
- ✓Lower civil-work complexity valued
- ✓Approach ramps fit the site layout
Compare before you decide
Consider pit type instead if
- Site footprint is severely constrained.
- Ground-level vehicle access without ramps is essential.
- The civil pit is practical for the location and drainage design.
02How it works
The main beams do double duty
In a pitless design, the deck sits above the surrounding grade instead of dropping into an excavated pit. Because there's no pit wall to act as a guide rail, the main structural beams of the deck itself are engineered to also serve as the guiding edge that keeps a vehicle's wheels tracking straight across the platform — one less separate structural element to fabricate, install, and maintain.
Welded, not bolted, main structure
Unlike a modular bolted deck, a pitless bridge is typically built from IS:2062 structural steel with the main beams welded directly to the cross beams, forming one rigid welded frame. That's a deliberate trade-off: a welded frame doesn't need to be broken into transportable modules the way a bolted design does, because the whole structure is lower and simpler to move and place as a single unit.
Why drainage is simpler above ground
A pit-type installation has to manage rainwater and wash-down runoff collecting in a below-grade cavity, usually with a sump and pump. An above-ground deck has no cavity to fill — water runs off the ramps and around the structure the same way it would across open ground, which removes an entire maintenance item (the sump pump and its power supply) from the site's upkeep list.
03Manufacturing & build quality
The frame is built from IS:2062-grade mild structural steel, cut and prepared before the main longitudinal beams are welded to the cross beams in a jig that holds the frame square and level through the welding sequence — critical, since the main beams also serve as the guide rails a vehicle's wheels track against. Weld joints at every load-bearing intersection are visually and, where specified, non-destructively inspected before the frame moves to blasting and coating. Load cell mounting brackets are machined to a common datum so all four (or more) support points sit at the same level once the frame is placed on its foundation, and ramps are fabricated and match-fitted to the deck height before the whole assembly is shipped and craned or skidded into position on prepared foundation plinths.
04Problems it solves
Excavation cost and time on hard or high-water-table ground
Digging a weighbridge pit is expensive and slow on rocky ground, and can be a non-starter where the water table sits close to the surface, since a pit below that level will constantly need pumping. An above-ground design sidesteps the excavation entirely.
Difficult maintenance access
Servicing load cells or wiring in a below-grade pit means climbing down into a confined space, often standing in whatever water has collected. With the electronics above ground, routine maintenance is done standing at grade, with normal light and ventilation.
Sites with existing pavement or utilities
Where underground utilities, existing pavement, or a shallow rock layer make excavation impractical or costly to reroute around, a pitless bridge can often be installed with far less disruption to what's already at the site.
Lower total civil construction cost
Between the excavation, pit wall construction, and drainage sump, a pit-type installation carries meaningfully more civil cost than pouring foundation piers at grade for a pitless design.
05Why it matters
For a lot of sites, the decision between pit and pitless isn't about weighing performance at all — it's about what the ground underneath will allow and what the plant can afford to have torn up during construction. Getting that decision right the first time avoids either an expensive excavation the site never needed, or a stalled project because the water table or utility layout made a pit impractical partway through construction. And because the electronics stay above ground and accessible, day-to-day maintenance is safer and faster for whoever ends up climbing in to service it years down the line.
06Salient features
- Lower civil construction cost than a pit-type install
- Low-profile weighbridge deck
- Electronics accessible above ground — easier maintenance
- Main beams double as guiding rails
- Simpler water drainage than an in-ground pit
07Specifications
| Model | Capacity (T) | Least Count | Platform Size (m) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HWC-PL-30 | 30 | 5 kg | 6.6 x 2.7 / 7.5 x 3 | — |
| HWC-PL-40 | 40 | 5 kg | 7.5 x 3 / 9 x 3 | — |
| HWC-PL-50 | 50 | 5 kg | 7.5 x 3 up to 12 x 3 | — |
| HWC-PL-60 | 60 | 5 / 10 kg | 12 x 3 / 16 x 3 / 18 x 3 | — |
| HWC-PL-80 | 80 | 10 kg | 12 x 3 up to 24 x 3 | — |
| HWC-PL-100 | 100 | 10 / 20 kg | 16 x 3 up to 20 x 3 | — |
08Technical file
Need the full technical sheet?
Request drawings, model-specific details and project documentation from the HMT team. A downloadable product file will appear here once approved.
09Complete system
Plan beyond the deck.
A vehicle weighing point can combine the weighbridge with indicator, load cells, traffic management and H-Weigh software for an accountable end-to-end workflow.
08In the field
09Frequently asked
How much ramp length do we need?
Ramp length is set by the deck height and the maximum gradient you want vehicles climbing — typically shallow enough that a fully loaded truck doesn't scrape its underbody or struggle for traction, which usually works out to a ramp several times longer than the deck's height above grade.
What capacity range does a pitless design cover?
Pitless construction is used across the same capacity range as pit-type bridges — the choice between the two is almost always driven by ground conditions and civil cost rather than by any weighing-capacity limitation.
Can a pitless bridge be converted to pit-type later, or vice versa?
Not without essentially re-building the foundation and, in most cases, the deck structure itself — the two designs have fundamentally different substructures, so the choice is worth making carefully at the planning stage rather than as something to revisit later.
How is rainwater and wash-down water managed?
Water simply drains off the ramps and around the foundation piers at grade, the same way it would across any open yard surface — no sump or pump is needed, which also means one less piece of equipment that can fail.
What ground bearing capacity do we need at the foundation piers?
That depends on the bridge's total structural weight plus the heaviest vehicle it will carry, and is normally confirmed with a soil-bearing check at each foundation location before the pier footings are designed.
10Industries this serves
Ready to spec a pitless (above ground) weighbridge?
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