Tarmac Drive and Inspection Chamber

[tonyfleeds]

Hi,

Looking for advice if possible... this is something I know nothing about.

Last week a skip lorry, delivering opposite used my drive to turn on, and in the process demolished a cover on an inspection chamber on my drive.

They are in the process of putting it right. Essentially it was just the cover that was broken - not the rim it sits in.

My house is 15 years old.

They seem to be having trouble getting an exact match of the cover size.

From what I can see it's 495mm, and sits flush into a rim of 500mm. ie. the lip of the rim is visible when the lid is in place - as opose to it sitting on top of it.

They've tried two so far - but too small etc.. not quite right.

Now they're talking about replacing the rim too - but it's set in a tarmac drive.

Today the guy started talking about pointing the rim with cement to fix it in place, as he reckons just retarmacing around the edge won't be secure.

This started alarm bells ringing for me - as I predict it may look like a dog's breakfast.

My key question is: is this normal? ie to replace an inspection chamber in tarmac you would cement the edge, rather than tarmac? Or is he just trying to avoiding having to tarmac?

Ultimately I just want it back how it was.

Thanks in advance for any advice.


T

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

They are usually bedded and flaunched in a sand/cement mix, allowing enough height to tarmac over, so you shouldnt see any cement work.

 

[joinerjohn]

Yep Cotswoldbuilder is quite correct. Some years ago when working for the local council, I was reversing a pickup truck (loaded with concrete blocks) onto a clients drive. Ran over the manhole cover (cast iron, but cracked) and managed to go through it with the rear nearside wheel. Managed to burst the tyre, damage the brake lines and suspension all in one go.
We had to replace the manhole as we couldn't source a replacement lid for it. Dug the tarmac from around the manhole and broke the concrete flaunching around it. Replaced with the new super chieftain tank grade manhole, re-concreted that into position and tarmacked around the manhole. Job were a good'un.

 

[tonyfleeds]

Thanks for the replies... So it's sounds like they're trying to cut short on what they might have to do.

Got the clear impression from what he was saying that he wouldn't be tarmacing.

Hmmmm.