Drain hole cover on a busy road - house is shaking

14sprocket

Hello all,

We recently moved to a new house, which is facing a rather busy street.
We expected some traffic noise, but the reality turned to be worse.

There's a drain cover on the road right next to our house. It has sort of uneven edge (on the left side of the attached photo), so serves as a bump for the cars passing over it. Every car going over this drain causes a violent vibration throughout our house, especially if it's a lorry, which can also travel at speed in the middle of the night.

We left a servicing request with TfL (who own the road), and they actually came and put down fresh tarmac around the hole (which you can see in the photo). That hasn't eased out troubles though, as the problem is in the hole itself, creating an indentation in the road.


Any advice on how to deal with this? We're getting to the point where I'm prepared to pay for the work myself just to get rid of this vibration.


Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

Eldi_Dos

What should have happened is frame and cover  should have been raised to correct height then tarmacing done,sounds like only tarmac was done. Maybe because of location and time allocated to the job.
I would find out what utility owns the cover and make a formal complaint stating that a repair has been done that is not fit for purpose.
Then get in touch with noise enforcement officer of your local council and get them involved.
Will not be quick fix but at least you will have set the process in motion.

koalakoala

Had the same problem in a previous house. Sorry to say it never goes away, as it never gets fixed properly. Gets a repair which gradually breaks down again, quicker than you would think.

naf123

Wonder if one just finds some cowboys to lay some tarmac over the manhole and steamroller it in the middle of the night....

14sprocket

naf123 said:

Wonder if one just finds some cowboys to lay some tarmac over the manhole and steamroller it in the middle of the night....

I wonder what the responsibility for that could be if found out? Especially since it will be pretty obvious who could benefit from this operation

Section62

14sprocket said:

naf123 said:

Wonder if one just finds some cowboys to lay some tarmac over the manhole and steamroller it in the middle of the night....

I wonder what the responsibility for that could be if found out? Especially since it will be pretty obvious who could benefit from this operation

It would also be pretty unwise to try driving a "steamroller" around London... hardly subtle, and the TLRN is well covered by CCTV and enforcement cameras, so the chances of getting away with DIY road alterations is close to zero.


I would go back to TfL - it is possible they have just done a temporary repair pending getting the owner of the manhole cover to repair it properly - and/or them arranging a closure/traffic management to do more than just a quick job.

The manhole cover needs resetting at the correct level, which involves bedding it on fresh mortar and giving that time to go off before backfilling with tarmac.  So to do a proper repair takes time - which might not have been possible at the first visit.

It also appears from the picture that the cover is sitting too low in the frame - and that may mean replacing the whole cover and frame with a new one.

I would guess the manhole is probably owned by TfL - either for highway drainage, or possibly traffic signal cabling.

If you don't get any joy from TfL, I would then contact your local ('constituency') GLA member.  E.g. point out the waste of taxpayer's money with poor quality repairs etc, as well as the noise nuisance.  AM's also have the ability to put questions directly to the Mayor in a public session, which is one strategy that might help to ensure a successful resolution (if nothing else works first).

Norman_Castle

I had similar near me which took months to resolve. I'd contacted the council who advised it was the responsibility of the local water company who had been informed. Due to slow progress I contacted them directly, they explained the frame under the cover needed replacing which there was a backlog in manufacturing. The cover by mine had sunk, the area was covered in tarmac as a temporary measure to stop the noise. Now resolved with a new cover.

Try contacting your local water company directly to see if they are responsible for it and if so what is being done. 

Section62

Norman_Castle said:

Try contacting your local water company directly to see if they are responsible for it and if so what is being done. 

I'd leave it with TfL for now.

It is possible it is a sewer cover, but Thames Water have been using 'branded' ones for the best part of 30 years, and this one looks much newer than that (given it is within the wheeltrack on the TLRN).

TfL are responsible for both the condition of the surface of the highway, and giving permission for any work to be carried out, so either way they should know what is happening.

Another_Level

Tfl  Good luck there. There run by a board, Mayor Khan is the commander.

What is under the manhole ?  If its a sewer for example the sewer company may fix it.

There is a site called fixmystreet.com  You have probably seen it but i think tfl are not a participant or were not. Do a search on fixmystreet for rattle manholes and see how others went about having it fixed.

dureycastings.co.uk produce that ironwork, you could show them the photo and ask for their comments.

There must be other neighbours who would also like it silenced, have you asked them ? get as many neighbours on your side. 

Good luck.

tfl


 

twopenny

I've had this happen and it's beyond agrivating.

I also had a lot of trouble getting anything done, even had the nerve to say that nothing could be done.

But once I'd started to get the ball rolling and they realised I wasn't going to go away from annoying them something eventually was done.

To be fair I had a similar thing in the garden of a house I bought. Once it was set properly in concrete it's 99% better so perhaps that's what they were attempting.

naf123

Is it worth investing in a heavy duty trench cover for some temporary relief ?