Hi,
I’m looking to see if VM can help remove or lower their manhole cover in front of our property in the councils grass as we’ve spoken to the council who have agreed and working on a quote for their part but need VM to help.
What is the best way to get in touch with them? Seen others here getting posts back from VM themselves.
Mark
https://www.virginmedia.com/help/diversionaryworks
There is a non-refundable survey fee for VM to produce a quote for the work (around £240-ish IIRC from past topics).
Thank you for the pointer! I’ve sent them a new enquiry, hopefully it’s the right one
From previous topics on this subject expect an estimated cost of several thousand pounds.
This shouldn't be one of the more expensive jobs since there is no cabinet to be moved.
Lowering involves more work to install a new Class D400 frame and cover at the correct height than is commonly realised, and there are multiple reasons why VM might refuse to do this anyway even if you are willing to pay especially as these Nynex chambers, which could be 30 years old, are shallow, full of legacy joints, built with brittle brickwork and surrounded by tight duct geometry which might need a total chamber rebuild and result in service disruption. There is also a chance of the chamber being relocated, but that's a tad over 0%.
So, before spending £240 plus VAT for a non-refundable network alteration survey report into this, see if you can have a crossover around this chamber. Can the driveway entrance be widened to accommodate this?
@Roger_Gooner thank you for the detailed feedback! It’s starting to sound like it’s not going to be worth it/doable.
Not sure what you mean by a crossover around this chamber sorry?
Are there are any rules around how much space has to be around it? E.g. could we leave it on the grass with the grass boundary right up against it?
By way of further info, we have seen topics on here where dropping a chamber lid has been quoted in hundreds of pounds all the way through to moving chambers and cabinets being quoted in 5 figure sums.
Lids often have a load rating class written on them. What does the label say on top of the lid? Does it say G2 under the word Nynex?
If it does, that may possibly reference Group 2 for the lid as per info below for load carrying capacity of chamber lids
https://www.jdpipes.co.uk/knowledge/manhole-covers/bsen124-explained.html
That does not, however, take into account the structure underneath nor the depth of the infrastructure that is beneath.
If you post some wider pic's of the area you will, no doubt, get plenty more comments and suggestions and speculation on here. The only way you will find out for certain, however, is to engage VM to produce a quote.
Crossover refers to the entire modified area including council approval which includes the dropped kerb (the physical kerb alteration). Most people, however, just say "dropped kerb". My suggestion to widen the driveway entrance, often requiring the cutting back or removing part of a hedge, fence, wall or gatepost if possible, was to get the crossover moved sideways to avoid running over the manhole. The council should then approve the modified plan if it still meets several criteria including being not too close to a junction, won't interfere with a bus stop, parking bay or controlled zone, the driveway opening being wide enough, a vehicle can enter without mounting the pavement at an angle and sightlines are safe for pedestrians.
I’ve attached another photo to the message above to give a bit more context.
The council seem fine with doing their work, initial quotes looking at £1500-£1700 for their bit but obviously need written VM direction/sign off.
The grass won’t all go, only about 2 meters taken off so I guess could be possible to move it to the side
Councils have guidelines about the distance between a crossover and a manhole, and will in some cases require a signoff from VM (might be under 1.5m).
