BT manhole cover

AlunandFelicie

AlunandFelicie

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Anyone know the load capacity of BT manhole cover marked with FW 4 , I believe that FW is foot way ie pavement but can it be driven over by a 3.5t motorhome To gain access to drive?
 
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AlunandFelicie said:
Anyone know the load capacity of BT manhole cover marked with FW 4 , I believe that FW is foot way ie pavement but can it be driven over by a 3.5t motorhome To gain access to drive?
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Have you got a 'drop-down' kerb access approved by the local council?

If so, call them and ask if they assessed and approved it and for what weight? You may need to state the weight per wheel i.e. axle weight halved as presumably only one wheel would be on the cover at any one time.

That question might give a local council employee a bit of head scratching, so get put to their highways department at earliest opportunity.

If course i there is no drop-down kerb permission I would just buy a strong-enough steel plate to put down each time you cross the cover. ;)
 
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It will be fine if it's the concrete type or heavy cast. If it's aluminium no. Remember it's not 3.5t unless you can get all your wheels onto it at the same time

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Remember that the load ratings are static loads. A moving vehicle imposes a much higher load . As suggested, a steel sheet over it to help spread the load.
 
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AlunandFelicie said:
Anyone know the load capacity of BT manhole cover marked with FW 4 , I believe that FW is foot way ie pavement but can it be driven over by a 3.5t motorhome To gain access to drive?
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Hi I am an ex bt surveyor in answer to your question your right fw is footway and the 4 is the size , these are not designed to be driven over . If it is the older type with a non slip cast iron edge these are stronger and you should be OK if it is the just flat type avoid it , post a pic and I will tell you
 
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pagey said:
Hi I am an ex bt surveyor in answer to your question your right fw is footway and the 4 is the size , these are not designed to be driven over . If it is the older type with a non slip cast iron edge these are stronger and you should be OK if it is the just flat type avoid it , post a pic and I will tell you
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You see, it is not just MH advice you get on here! :giggle:
 
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pagey said:
Hi I am an ex bt surveyor in answer to your question your right fw is footway and the 4 is the size , these are not designed to be driven over . If it is the older type with a non slip cast iron edge these are stronger and you should be OK if it is the just flat type avoid it , post a pic and I will tell you
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It’s the flat type and I assumed not to be driven over ☹️
I suppose I’d get in trouble if I changed it to one of the load bearing type (I’m the only one ever likely to drive over it as it’s directly adjacent to my driveway at the end of a cul de sac) and presumably BT would charge an arm and a leg ☹️☹️

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If it is a B125, which the floline link says it is, it should withstand 12.5t of static load. If this is an authorised footway crossing, it should have been designed and built to take 12.5t wheel load. I suspect that will take a motorhome wheel load driven over slowly. But don't blame me if it doesn't. That is because it's strength will depend upon the quality of the infill concrete and also the design and quality of the base it sitting on. If it's sitting on dirt, as some are. rather than a concrete base, the whole thing may just sink.
 
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AlunandFelicie said:
It’s the flat type and I assumed not to be driven over ☹️
I suppose I’d get in trouble if I changed it to one of the load bearing type (I’m the only one ever likely to drive over it as it’s directly adjacent to my driveway at the end of a cul de sac) and presumably BT would charge an arm and a leg ☹️☹️
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you might be surprised contact them and asked for a surveyor to come to see it and ask them to change it to a carriage way instead of a foot way as you cannot access your driveway, i have moved footway boxes and telegraph poles in the past with no charge to the customer its worth a try
 
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peterc10 said:
If it is a B125, which the floline link says it is, it should withstand 12.5t of static load. If this is an authorised footway crossing, it should have been designed and built to take 12.5t wheel load. I suspect that will take a motorhome wheel load driven over slowly. But don't blame me if it doesn't. That is because it's strength will depend upon the quality of the infill concrete and also the design and quality of the base it sitting on. If it's sitting on dirt, as some are. rather than a concrete base, the whole thing may just sink.
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it will probably have an engineering brick lining but will only on a thin concrete base

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When I went to park the motorhome on the driveway of our new house last year, a cast iron cover that was underneath a covering of blue slate snapped in half and fell down the hole in a V shape.
With the front wheel one inch from the sill of the motorhome, I decided to have one attempt at driving it up the V, which was successful. It turned out that the blue slate had shot under the cover and was supporting it!

On buying a new cover I was surprised to find that a 5 ton cover will not stand a weight of 5 tons. It is assumed that a vehicle driving over the cover will have four wheels so a 5 ton cover should only be subjected to 1.25 tons (bought a 10 ton cover).
 
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pagey said:
it will probably have an engineering brick lining but will only on a thin concrete base
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It is an engineering brick lining ,I recently widened my access by removing a pillar which partially obscured the chamber previously ,I replaced pavers up to the cover and noticed the lining.
thanks for your advice I will try my luck with BT👍
 
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I have a 2ft dia. cast iron one marked "FS", presumably 'foul sewer'. It's in a direct line for my nearside wheels over which I've been driving without a thought for the past few years. If it should fail it seems I could be in the sh1t.
 
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pagey said:
you might be surprised contact them and asked for a surveyor to come to see it and ask them to change it to a carriage way instead of a foot way as you cannot access your driveway, i have moved footway boxes and telegraph poles in the past with no charge to the customer its worth a try
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What he needs is a Silent Night 😉
 
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AlunandFelicie said:
Anyone know the load capacity of BT manhole cover marked with FW 4 , I believe that FW is foot way ie pavement but can it be driven over by a 3.5t motorhome To gain access to drive?
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How long ha e you had your van? And now your asking :rofl:

Should have read post 17 :eek:

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lift the lid and backfill the chamber with a good strong concrete mix and float the lid back on top. It's not a drain after all
 
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I have no idea whatever where at a council actually has the records of dropped kerbs. A few years ago our council wrote to us with the plans for a new raised kerb at the bus stop outside our house. Rang em and said No Prob, good idea, BUT it starts/stops smack in the middle of our drive and with 2 cars and a motorhome to cross the pavement we can't accept it, sorry. Ok we'll just move it to your left then. So the problem we have will now be our right hand next door neighbours prob cos he has a dropped kerb as well. So - does this mean if you haven't got ours on file, the one outside the whole front of the terrace of Victorian houses whose front doors open onto the pavement, also isn't marked - or what?

They shrank the length of the kerb between our house and Fred's so it fitted - and all the dropped kerbs are still there.
 
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TheBig1 said:
lift the lid and backfill the chamber with a good strong concrete mix and float the lid back on top. It's not a drain after all
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Can I ask them to send you the bill when they come to work on anyone’s fibre connection?🤪🤪🤪🤪
 
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EuroTrotters said:
Yes!

Should I buy gold ?
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AlunandFelicie said:
No steal it instead ,I know a place called Brinks Mat…….
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I and a colleague once got away from Heathrow with £2m of gold.

We only had it for an hour till we landed at Beauvais, but the only person to claim it was a BEA clerk on a bicycle - no police in sight - well it was French Sunday Lunchtime, monsieur. :LOL:
 
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