the dock face 2 a dock leveler 20 has a frame 21 attached to the pit 4 the frame has vertical back frame members 22 with holes for the hinge pivot pin 32 near the top horizontal frame members 23 extend forward to the front of the pit 4 and have ramp stops 24 and lip keepers 25 a deck 30 has rear hinge supports 31 the deck 30 is attached to the frame 21 by a hinge pin 32 referring to fig1 and 2 lip hinge tubes 33 are fastened to the front bar 34 of the deck assembly a lip 35 is connected to the deck hinge tubes by a lip hinge pin 36 the end of the lip rests in the lip keepers 25 and supports the deck assembly in the stored 34 cross traffic 34 position a spring assembly 40 is fastened to brackets 26 on the frame 21 by a pin 42 and to brackets 37 on the deck assembly by a pin 43 the spring assembly 40 is employed to support a substantial amount of the weight of deck assembly so that the actuator force is sufficient to raise the deck the spring assembly supports the deck throughout the entire range of travel by way of example the spring assembly may be selected to support 60 to 80 of the deck weight an electric actuator 50 with an extendible rod 51 is fastened to brackets 38 on the deck 30 by a pin 44 a square guide tube 45 is fastened by a pin 46 to brackets 27 on the frame 20 the majority of the weight of the deck 30 is carried by the counterbalancing force of the spring assembly 40 and the actuator 50 is required to provide only the extra.