Sonny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Speaking of level, one of the mysteries of modern life is why modern day road paving technology is unable to get a manhole level with the road.
When I was young, pretty much all the manholes were flush with the road (when you ride a bicycle, you're pretty aware of such things).
But today, around here at least, it seems impossible to make them flush, other than the occasional accident. If the manhole isn't an inch or two below the road, then the manhole itself will be flush, but surrounded by a moat 6 to 8 inches wide, which is an inch or two below the road.
Certainly this is one area where modern technology isn't progress.
Leon wrote in news:E4GdnQ- snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
They have those - it's a simple ring that sits on the top of the housing to lift the cover up by 3/4 inch (*). I have one
- for some reason one was left in the middle of the sidewalk when they resurfaced roads near me, so I picked it up and brought it home.
But the problem of uneven manholes exists on both new and resurfaced roads around here. Some of it seems to be a failure in paving (the pavement being above the manhole), and some of it seems to be a problem of subsurface prep (the subsurface compacting, leaving the manhole above the pavement).
John
(* I assume they come in other sizes too, the one I have is 3/4)
I nicked 100 here on Labor Day, and should hit it briefly around 4-5 again today. I have one roof replacement in process, and I usually only work on roof repairs, not on full replacements. Thankfully, I only had one of thos e to do this summer where I was working out in the sun, in the afternoon on a dark brown shingle roof. It was an emergency repair for a great client and I had no choice. I had red burns on my knees and down the side of my l egs and butt that lasted for about 3 days.
I remember 40 years ago I would work all day as a laborer, than get off and go eat pizza and drink a schooner of beer (or more!) to cool off. Now... I get off, go cool off in a fast food joint and drink tea, then go home and take some Advil. After showering, I drink more tea, eat some dinner, work on paperwork and go to bed.
Even my guys tease me. "Hey Robert, we're going to stop for a six. You wa nt us to get you some Metamucil and Advil?" If it has been a long July/Aug ust day, I might just take them up on it.
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 9:51:33 AM UTC-5, Puckdropper at dot wrote :
If you didn't use a level, what would you use?
As a commercial superintendent, I have literally been responsible for acres or concrete and pavement. I can crown a road or drive with a 4' level, a sighted level or a water level.
Standard drainage declination is 1/4" per foot (no snow consideration), les s or more if stamped by civil engineer.
Say you wanted to put a crown on the road to make it drain to the gutters o n each side that drain into a runoff drain box or to a collection point on your street. Start at the drain lip, and using something as simple as a 4' level, drive a peg (we use rebar scraps) until it is 1" higher than level. Now you have proper drainage. Repeat from the top of your peg to establi sh another 4'. To get the standard 10' lane, from the top of your last peg go another 2', then raise it 1/2". Now you have one half of a two lane st reet, with the proper drainage established.
When you pour concrete, you pour to the top of the pegs, using your straigh t edge from peg to peg to keep it crowned. When you are laying asphalt, yo u are laying it over graded material that was laid, cut and compacted to gr ade by establishing those same pegs,except that the pegs they use are wood and have highly colored brushes on them so they can be easily seen by machi ne operators.
For road work, parking lots, and other large areas, you simply use a sighte d level (the instrument you see guys peeking through on job sights)and "sti ck" or "rod" to do EXACTLY the same thing.
Let your mind wander. You can change the angles to anything you want, you can start at the high point and go down instead of up, you can make a wide, single slope road or drive, etc. To make the curves more gentle, simply m ake your points that establish the desired finished surface grade closer to gether.
When we are doing paved walks, small patios, or anything else small we just use a 4' level. When I was in commercial, I used the instrument (level) s o much I had it in my truck half the time. My concrete guy uses a 6' level zip tied to a 10' straightedge, and establishes his grades in short order once he figures out the math.
Not sexy, but you honestly sounded like you didn't know.
Puckdropper wrote in news:55ef3b91$0$56544 $c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:
Agree, that was interesting to know.
Are things done differently for very wide roads? I have in mind some parts of I-95 in FLA and GA that are 4 and 5 lanes wide on each side, and seem to be darn close to perfectly flat. They certainly don't drain worth a darn when it rains. Is there some limit on how low the edges can be, that prevents cambering very wide roads?
We just built a backyard shed for a client as part of a whole house remodel.
Yesterday, simply tired of watching someone else work on the shed roof, I bent down, threw up a bundle of shingles to my shoulder, took two steps forward, said "like hell!", two steps back, and dropped the SOB back onto the pile.
Fug it ... at 72, ain't my job to do something that would take two weeks to get over, IF I had been lucky enough to make it the 100' to the backyard.
Keep forgetting that parts of me are somehow older than others ...
This morning I cut a piece of trim for the front door. I should be on the front step right now putting it in place, instead, I'm reading newsgroups in the air conditioned family room. Maybe later, its 91 right now. And I'm considerably younger than you, only 70.
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