Dave Lindell, post: 450240, member: 55 wrote: I set a lot of those lead and tacks when I was a grunt there (hooks were usually torn out by the sewer maintenance people because they would catch their overalls on them and cause rips). It amounted to laying on your stomach to reach down and drill the hole for the lead always fun on a busy street. Lucky the brick was soft or the mortar lining was thin for drilling with a star drill (no electric hammer drills in those days).
Probably one of the best reasons to get promoted was so someone else had to reach into those manholes.
As for the denizens, we would pour paint thinner on the insides and throw a match into it. Sometimes manhole lids in all directions would pop up.
Like a Cash boy, we would hope for a manhole that happened to be in a crosswalk. When the pedestrians got close was when we popped the lid and the critters scattered in every direction. You never heard so many girly screams, and from the guys, too.By the way, I don't see the punches in the manhole rim. Were there any? Are you going to set some?
Great, history, Dave, many thanks for posting! As for punching, the rim, if it's just a boundary (or topo) survey, I'll set up over the open MH, site the stringline int with the plummet, reset the cover and mark the int on the cover so I can backsight from the next setup. If it's subdivision work, then I'll take (required) time to punch the rim.
By the way, I would love if anyone has and can repost the 1937 photo (or other City crew photos) and/or the standard diagram that Paul P originally posted in this thread.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but why would one punch the SMH cover, which eventually gets moved by opening and replacing? Wouldn't it be better to punch the rim (not cover)? I know it's pretty tough material but I've managed to punch and cut marks on said rims.
Zapper, post: 450345, member: 6470 wrote: Maybe I'm missing something here, but why would one punch the SMH cover, which eventually gets moved by opening and replacing? Wouldn't it be better to punch the rim (not cover)? I know it's pretty tough material but I've managed to punch and cut marks on said rims.
Hi Zapper, the standard procedure is to punch the rim, not the cover. The mark in the cover that I referred to is only temporary and for immediate backsighting purposes. That said, the rims get rotated following Road Dept work, so punchmarks in the rim move too. I've seen punchmarks that appear on line to be off say a tenth. I've also seen plenty of "swiss cheese" rims from years of replacement punchmarks being set. Long story short(er), I always want to check the hooks rather than rely on PMs in the rim.
Thanks [USER=13086]@NC Hansen[/USER] .
I tried Paul Plutae's method (per the original thread post) today to check rim punchmarks against the original lead & tacks in the chimney walls. It is so much quicker, safer, and less destructive than punching in cup tacks & string. We sighted the existing PMs dead center with the L+T's.
NC Hansen, post: 450258, member: 13086 wrote: By the way, I would love if anyone has and can repost the 1937 photo (or other City crew photos) and/or the standard diagram that Paul P originally posted in this thread.
Here is the diagram for Standard Manhole Monument (SMHM) from the LA City 1986 Survey Manual for anyone who is interested.