# manhole covers



## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

right im aware this may end up in the pit as it may be too obvious a question to ask but i think i may have found an air raid shelter and i read that there is one on my road AND it looks like its deeper in the concrete than others. so im wondering do manhole covers have different codes or shaped for different things? how do i know?


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## Krypton (Feb 13, 2011)

Think its a pretty good question actually. 

I'm not to sure tbh if they look differently.

Best thing to do is just pop the bitch open and see whats in it


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## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

eeek lol well i think i may have narrowed it down even more as i know of another one that is nest to a certain building so i figure if the one on my road is the same as that one then maybe i should have a look. im just such a fraidy cat!!!


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## Krypton (Feb 13, 2011)

Is it ON the road?

Hard hat, high viz and a clipboard should do the job


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## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

its on the pavement on a busy road. i know i could go ask a historian at the local uni as i know that person knows but i know they might not tell me then i have drawn attention to it. i think i might have to actually do this or it will play on my mind. im not going down it if i do find it though!


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## Krypton (Feb 13, 2011)

Seems a bit pointless then doesnt it. If your not gonna go down it you might as well just go to the historian...


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## Seahorse (Feb 13, 2011)

Be a devil, and take pics. Somebody here is bound to be a cast iron artifact anorak.


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## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

oh yeah course i'll take pics if it is it! im a mum of a young child so i dont want to risk it, theres nothing pointless about finding it though as it will satisfy my curiosity


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## Krypton (Feb 13, 2011)

It wont satisfy ours though - we're hungry little things y'know!

Get someone to go with you


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## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

hehe i know! i'll see what i can do!


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## phill.d (Feb 13, 2011)

This is the only one I've ever seen if it helps you. This one is in Leeds.
The Air raid Shelter writing has almost rubbed away with passing feet over the years, but you can just make it out still.


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## UrbanX (Feb 13, 2011)

I've had to pop many a manhole on pavement legitimately for my job, never been questioned. Wouldnt hesitate. But... Normally air raid shelters have a lot more accessible..err..access?


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## jibhead (Feb 13, 2011)

that happens to have AIR RAID SHELTER written on it


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## phill.d (Feb 13, 2011)

jibhead said:


> that happens to have AIR RAID SHELTER written on it


Your powers of observation are second to non lol


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## mimidaler (Feb 13, 2011)

right, im going to have a look and see if it has it written on it. will i be able to just lift it up or will i need to use a spanner to unscrew it or anything like that if i did decide to lift it up and have a look?


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## jibhead (Feb 13, 2011)

phill.d said:


> Your powers of observation are second to non lol



doh. didnt see the caption. doh

strange wear pattern though


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## UrbanX (Feb 13, 2011)

Phil posted his pic as I was writing my comment! Never seen that written on an air raid shelter! Pop it and find out! 

If it's not an air raid shelter, I look forward to the draining report!


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## Krypton (Feb 13, 2011)

Looks like you need some kind of special key


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## muppet (Feb 13, 2011)

phill.d said:


> im going to the rest of life walking around looking at manhole covers and not where im going now lol


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## oldscrote (Feb 13, 2011)

found this online

http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=1366&StartAtMessage=0


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## EastOfDesolation (Feb 13, 2011)

Careful what you lift. It's all too easy to drop a square manhole cover down it's shaft (As I've discovered) and they are very heavy (22kg a side, if it's the split type) as I have also discovered. Of course, round ones are impossible to loose down their shaft 

Make sure you have someone else with you, and the correct drain key for the job. Too small, too flimsy and you are likely to land yourself in a whole world of trouble by dropping the lid down the shaft. Take care out there guys


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## mimidaler (Feb 15, 2011)

right im not going to lift any covers just like that then. 

Ive had a walk down and worked out theres actually about a million on the road alone, especially on the stretch i thought it was on. 

Yellow-fire hydrant
LBFH- luton brigade fire hydrant
ones with stone cover and metal round the edge- post office telephone (i have no idea? post office telephones?)
Stone cover with little metal square CATV- cable tv
Then theres the one which is just a criss cross metal grid- full of water. 
Water- water pipes
Then theres the square ductile challender ones that are made of the two triangles, i looked this up, they are vented so they must be drains
then there some hexagonal ones, they too are vented and every few hundred metres up our road. 


I do happen to know now that theres more than one shelter on this road. and its a hill which all the houses are old and have hollow floorboards. im pretty sure there used to be a tram line on it as well. So the road is a bit strange. a lot of adjustments have been made. im going to ask my friend who works in street services if they can shed any light for me.


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## krela (Feb 15, 2011)

post office telephones was privatised to become british telecom (BT)...


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## Badoosh (Feb 15, 2011)

phill.d said:


> This is the only one I've ever seen if it helps you. This one is in Leeds.
> The Air raid Shelter writing has almost rubbed away with passing feet over the years, but you can just make it out still.



If only Plymouth's shelters had this, it would certainly save time digging around


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## Engineer (Feb 15, 2011)

From the pic there's another clue in what appears to be a hinge at the top of the casting, would prevent it falling anywhere?


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## Goldie87 (Feb 15, 2011)

Engineer said:


> From the pic there's another clue in what appears to be a hinge at the top of the casting, would prevent it falling anywhere?



I suppose the hinge is there for ease of use as it would need to be opened from below, being an emergency escape hatch.


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## Timmy (Feb 15, 2011)

was told about a shelter at a cross roads near the city center of plymouth (thanks Badoosh for the info) noticed the entrance to the side... bricked up... but the man hole covers on top of the road side has had me nearly have a few near misses as i looked down for a name and didnt pay attention to the road ahead...

but its all fun i had my shelter virginity popped at a shelter to the west of plymouth... cracking little places for what they was at the time... graffiti is amazing to still be there sharing with a few spiders 


Badoosh we need more shelters to be uncovered!...


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## krela (Feb 15, 2011)

Again, I am not convinced of the wisdom of openly talking about 'popping' manhole covers on a publicly accessible forum...


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## mimidaler (Feb 16, 2011)

good point! i cann assure you i for one think i wont be doing that due to the dangers


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## ricasso (Feb 16, 2011)

So, would it be possible to see an actual photo of the cover in question?


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## Seahorse (Feb 16, 2011)

Failing which, I feel this topic has been done to death.


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