Broken Cast Iron Manhole

[Barclaybasher]

@DDJC

Any chance of getting your other costs back?

You have the photo

 

[mfw]

All drains were adopted by the water companies some time back.
Providing more than one property uses said line.
It used to be only terraced houses.

This is the case in England I don’t know about the rest of the U.K.

Got 4 of the bloody things on my property 2 in driveway right where wheels go and 2 in pathway by my backdoor - not amusing when they back up either although southern water do sort issues quickly

 

[DDJC]

@DDJC

Any chance of getting your other costs back?

You have the photo

Yes, I thought of that. I have the invoice as well. £180 for a ten minute call out and a winch. Jeez.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Got 4 of the bloody things on my property 2 in driveway right where wheels go and 2 in pathway by my backdoor - not amusing when they back up either although southern water do sort issues quickly

Only two reasons for drains to back up.
Poor design/maintenance or incorrect materials going into it.

 

[mfw]

Only two reasons for drains to back up.
Poor design/maintenance or incorrect materials going into it.

My drains have other neighbours properties waste going into them anything could be going into the system - and i end up with problem everytime as they are on my property - just got to accept and live with it though

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[Geistguy]

Exactly the same happened on our drive, fortunately my breakdown cover did agree to assist. It took two RAC Van's to pull our 3.8 ton van out. My God did their clutches smell !!

Can't remember who the insurance cover was with but they used the RAC service.

We were moving house the following week so only replaced with a cheapo galvanised one.

 

[mfw]

Exactly the same happened on our drive, fortunately my breakdown cover did agree to assist. It took two RAC Van's to pull our 3.8 ton van out. My God did their clutches smell !!

Can't remember who the insurance cover was with but they used the RAC service.

We were moving house the following week so only replaced with a cheapo galvanised one.

Jacked my transit van up when it fell through manhole scaffold board under wheel and over drain - drove transit out - once up easy no burnt out clutch or anything

 

[Taran_Las]

George Russell is having similar problems here.

 

[DDJC]

The grey water bloke came by late last night. He looked into the hole and confirmed that as a shared drain, it was their fault and they were very sorry!! He said that the 6mm steel plate I had laid over it was easily strong enough to hold 5 tonnes, even parked permanently, square over the hole. Easy for him to say, it's not his holiday home.

Anyway, he said that a crew will be out to replace the drain covers and reinforce the surrounds, and did I want heavy duty 10 tonne steel covers?

Hmm, let me think...

Jacked my transit van up when it fell through manhole scaffold board under wheel and over drain - drove transit out - once up easy no burnt out clutch or anything

I tried this on my trolley jack, but the wheel wouldn't clear the hole so I could slide something under it . Mrs DDJC, (who is very protective of the bus), hinted that she had little faith in my technical perspicacity and suggested that I stop sodding about and get someone who knows what they are doing, if I wanted to see tomorrow's dawn.

 

[DDJC]

Should of contacted the water supplier if other properties run through the drain they will replace it for free my transit went through the one on my drive - waterboard came out and replaced it no cost at all - not sure if they would do it if no other property runs through it though

Case closed! A couple of blokes came round and replaced both the broken cover and the unbroken one.

The guy looked at the bus and said that the new covers were 5 ton and could hold it easily. He also said that the old ones were imperial cast iron and really for pedestrians and cars only. I asked him whether they would have replaced the covers if I had asked, and he said that based on the weight of the bus, they probably would, purely as a preventative measure.

So along with my thanks to all who have contributed, my concluding advice, is that if you have manhole covers on your driveway, and you have an old-ish house, get a tape and measure them. If the measurement is obviously imperial, rather than metric (mine was 26" x 20"), then it is most likely cast iron and most likely not rated strong enough to hold your pride and joy. If you have a shared drain, then the water board may do it as a preventative measure. If it is your drain, the water board are still probably the best people to do the work, but you would have to pay for it yourselves.

Ask yourself...!
Do you really want to need winching out of a hole, while that ferry leaves without you?

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[mfw]

The grey water bloke came by late last night. He looked into the hole and confirmed that as a shared drain, it was their fault and they were very sorry!! He said that the 6mm steel plate I had laid over it was easily strong enough to hold 5 tonnes, even parked permanently, square over the hole. Easy for him to say, it's not his holiday home.

Anyway, he said that a crew will be out to replace the drain covers and reinforce the surrounds, and did I want heavy duty 10 tonne steel covers?

Hmm, let me think...




I tried this on my trolley jack, but the wheel wouldn't clear the hole so I could slide something under it . Mrs DDJC, (who is very protective of the bus), hinted that she had little faith in my technical perspicacity and suggested that I stop sodding about and get someone who knows what they are doing, if I wanted to see tomorrow's dawn.

My trolley jack is not high enough either i had to use axle stand to support vehicle then used packers to get it high enough to enable me to slide scaffold boards under wheel i was careful doing it

 

[romany]

hope thois explains who owns what.

i know all this as a few years back our council issued a 156 order to the whole village this told us the village sewers needed to be replaced and the village was responsible and a cost of around ten thousand pounds would be added to our council tax to be spread over a few years I sent south oxfordshire district council a solicitors letter thanking them for telling me about the sewers and pointing out the wording on my deeds stating "private sewers owned by south oxford district council " i added i looked forward to them starting the work. You will all Love this bit it turned out the European Parliament was passing a new law making water authorities responsible for any shared drainage.
Could never prove it but I believe council and water authority were trying to pull a fast one and get sewers repaired before they became responsible. upshot was we managed to force council to repair one damaged part under their own section 156 the rest is apparently ok now Thames water is responsible for it

 

[Eggs]

Water Board lol, there ain't been a Water Board since 1989.

 

[romany]

Water Board lol, there ain't been a Water Board since 1989.

I'm old get over it