What do you guys do to stay safe while pulling manholes in traffic . I park the work truck in back of the mh in traffic and make the cars go around . I did have a car total my work truck using this method , I could see the guy looking at his radio 500 feet away and he was the only car in the lane , he looked up and swerved at the last minute and ripped the left side of the truck off and he totaled his car. At thst moment I was getting out of the truck to flag cars around and saw he was not changing lanes. i dove in the floor board and my coworker dove in the grass . Cops gave him the ticket. Totaled my truck.
I tslked with a buddy I went to college who works for OSHA and he did not have an answer for this besides setting up a traffic flagman and cones . What do you guys do.
On roads where there is traffic I have always gotten the town to park a dump truck between us and traffic with the appropriate lights and signs.
Lane closure signs, (the one with the Right or Left option) arrow board, and a bunch of the big traffic cones. Close down the lane using cones 2-500 ft after the sign, depending on posted speed limit. Leave the vehicle between the cones and MH.
Thanks for the tip. I finally have a use for my dump truck that has been sitting out back!
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part6/part6c.htm
I'm curious what the result would have been if you had already been working on the manhole when the car hit your truck.
i do the same as you. i use the truck as a shield and then i direct traffic around the truck. let 2 other guys pull the lid and get the inverts. better a totaled truck than a dead surveyor. i took a traffic control class 1 day a few years ago. it was a great investment. never expect anyone to stop. always be ready to jump out of the way. always wear the proper traffic gear. always use signs and cones.
Without the proper temp traffic control, it is possible for you to receive part of the blame. Hopefully their insurance doesn't catch on and you may want to revise your procedures...
I used to work for the govt. on the County level. We had year long permits to temporally take out lanes (except for expressways and freeways) when we needed to. We didn't start until after rush hour in the morning and picked up before rush hour in the afternoon.
On busy streets, I just call the police or the county mounties. They have been very helpful, but then again, this is small town America.
On a slight tangent, I have been scolded now by two of the cities here for pulling them open. They told me I did not have authorization to do so, and there are some OSHA issues regarding this (related to a potential to igniting fumes if you create some type of spark when opening).
I still open them in other cities since I consider it a part of the topo, but just putting it out there in case it becomes a new thing to deal with.
We were working on the mh my coworker heard the bang and dove in the grass
Hey, if municipalities want to get their own measure downs, or dips, all the power to them. Have at it.
I HATE doing that part of a topo.
I was getting out to put out cones and flag cars and he was the only car for 1200 feet . I could see he was not seeing us in the road . He had plenty of time to see us and re-act to us in the road . Cop agreed with us that he was not paying attention . Had to go home and clean my under garments. People do not care about us working in the road period and its getting worse . This is the part of the job I hate the most .
> Hey, if municipalities want to get their own measure downs, or dips, all the power to them. Have at it.
>
> I HATE doing that part of a topo.
Yeah, for me though it is always the civil engineer asking for that information on a standard site plan topo for a private remodel, so it does not work for me to use that angle.
If the purpose of the inverts are for the city, county, or state, it's possible for them to do a lane closure for you if you request it. They have the know how and equipment to do one. I have seen that happen before.
Sometimes on a not so busy street, you can get away without one. I've done that before, but you didn't hear me say that.... Sunday mornings are a good time too.