Man Holes

We dug away the ground with a digger and by hand to be able to uncover the pipes. This was a bit tricky as you don’t know what’s under the ground so you need to be careful during the process. Once the manhole was dug out, there was a concrete base laid so we had something flat to work off of.

We could only get one man in a hole at a time as there was not enough space for two of us and no space to load stacks of blocks out. We had a black tub in the hole for the mortar and we had a plank wedged in the hole to be able to slide one block in at a time. This is also how we got the mortar in the hole. The only information we had for the manholes was to lay the blocks flat to retain the ground.

The manhole had to work 50mm-100mm, so 2m by 2m or 2250m by 2250m it had to work this way for the construction of the manhole lid. We had to bridge the blue pipes with lintels so there was no weight bearing on the pipe. We then had to fill in that void with engineering bricks as there was a chance of them being smashed out to get access to the pipes.

Some of the holes were not square at the bottom so when we were building the manhole, we would make it square as we built the manhole higher. The manhole had to be a perfect square at the top so the metal lid would fit nicely. 

The job was very physical and far from straightforward as we had to overcome many obstacles but we got through by staying positive and having a laugh. In the end, we made what looked like a difficult job, easy!

The logistics were also tricky because the manholes were dotted around the place so we had to communicate with mortar delivery drivers to deliver the right quantity of material at the right manhole.

No matter what the job is, we get it done as efficiently as possible and with the best workmanship. As a team, we believe any obstacle can be overcome and what makes us so great is our ability to adapt and our passion for a challenge!