Bump! Thud! Thump!
It’s inconceivable that drivers aren’t conscious of the jolt of driving over manhole covers in Durango and environs.
Those access points to sewer, water, electric and fiber-optic systems always seem to be in the wheel track where it’s impossible to avoid them.
Two notable ones are on east 32nd Street. Another is on South Camino del Rio at Ninth Street. Then there are a pair on Florida Road at Timberline Drive and three more in quick succession about one-quarter mile farther north on Florida.
Sunken manhole covers, the same villain to cars as potholes, take a tremendous toll on front-end alignment, said Jesse Cowan at the Model Tire Store.
“They can knock your front end out of alignment in no time,” Cowan said Wednesday. “I’ve seen front ends disaligned with just one good whack.”
Uneven road and street surfaces aren’t created on purpose, Durango city engineer Greg Boysen said. There’s a reason they’re not always as flat as a pancake.
“Manhole covers for sewer and water have to be where we can get at them for maintenance, replacement or repair,” Boysen said. “In the winter, we plow the snow so the covers are accessible.”
The same can’t be said of private property, he said.
Given that the distance between a sewer line and the street can’t easily be altered, the street is paved as closely as possible to the level of the cover, Boysen said.
“It’s not perfect,” Boysen said, “but we do the best we can.”
The three sewer-line manholes in quick succession on Florida Road downhill from the Chelsey Acres subdivision are to negotiate the curve there, Boysen said.
A sewer pipe has to be straight to facilitate flow, Boysen said. So short, straight sections of pipe were installed to get around the curve and take the line to the Ute Pass Ranch subdivision, he said.
daler@durangoherald.com
