Makes me wonder how long somebody tried prying that bitch up with a bar before they decided to call in the heavy equipment and be done with it.
No Wonder It Was Stuck
Bustednuckles
Documenting The Death Of America
Makes me wonder how long somebody tried prying that bitch up with a bar before they decided to call in the heavy equipment and be done with it.
gotta say, that’s the sturdiest asphalt I have ever seen
Bet that was on the route of a presidential visit.
Read somewhere manholes are welded up so they don’t become platter charges.
Pity.
Not like they couldn’t have mitigated the damage by removing the pavement around the manhole or anything….
So, they had the wherewithal to get a chain through the thing, but no one was smart enough to just cut the cover into pie sections, grind the rust off the rim, and just drop a new cover…?
Genius, right there.
Had to be city workers.
Only civil service professionals are so unfailingly incompetent.
Whaddya expect! This’ ‘Merica, Dammut.
…and I’d bet there were 12 other municipal workers and at least one supervisor standing around looking on.
Usually I take a jack hammer and cut the asphalt and break the concrete holding the casting in place first buy I guess that’s easier.
Still not sure why it was stuck, should have been able to see if it was welded shut. As is they pulled up the whole base and if they wanted to do that they should have taken out the asphalt and removed the bolts, as is they destroyed at least part of the foundation.
Frames are of that era were just set with bricks and mortar, it’s still sometimes done that way but most municipalities have switched to concrete, rubber or even fiber risers for rim elevation adjustment but never bolted to the cover section of the structure. I’ve seen covers welded but usually only in areas where the system gets surcharged during heavy storm events to keep them from flying off. When I’ve seen them stuck it’s been because some DPW genius replaces a broken of missing cover with one that doesn’t match the frame.
I know on state roads in CT depending on the type of manhole service they are usually surrounded by an asphaltic plug joint similar to what is used on bridge joints. It is a mixture of heated 3/4″ washed stone and a asphalt/rubber material that is melted in a kettle. The hot stone is put in a mixer similar to a cement mixer and the given quantity of asphalt/rubber is added. That is then put into the ring around the manhole, it is tamped in in 3″ lifts and allowed to cool.
We used to weld manhole covers to keep snowplows from stripping the covers. There was also a rash of scrappers stealing covers and catchbasin grates for $$.
We used to use a 1/8″ or 1/4″ 7018 depending on the gap we ran it quite hot and then we peened the bead with a hammer. We used to weld in three or four short sections usually no longer than 3″. Removal of the weld to open a cover was pretty easy. We’d heat the area with a cutting torch and then adjust your angle and clean the weld out.
The guy standing close sure has a lot of faith that that chain ain’t gonna snap.
How’d they get the chain through it?
Has to be Washington DC. I remember when there was a big scare over people putting explosives under the manhole covers and they had them all welded shut. Think it was back under Reagan but my memory is fuzzy. Bet this crew forgot that.
Yanking that out was the easy part….and perhaps the fun part. Now some poor schmuck has to fix that gaping hole in the road.