Manholes and fortress

TiNy · 07 Jan 2014, 12:08 pm

Thinking of going to fortress soon. Know a couple of entrances some you go through a grill others and others require you to go through the manhole. How do you open manholes do you use manhole keys or what. Also tips for opening grills on the side of the road and coming out of them.
Thanks in advance
TiNy

Aydun · 07 Jan 2014, 12:22 pm

Just try and see what happens.

Nick · 07 Jan 2014, 1:38 pm

TiNy wrote:Thinking of going to fortress soon. Know a couple of entrances some you go through a grill others and others require you to go through the manhole. How do you open manholes do you use manhole keys or what. Also tips for opening grills on the side of the road and coming out of them.
Thanks in advance
TiNy

Just be careful, manholes aren't light, go with someone who knows what they're doing. One of those big pizza lids could do some bad stuff to your ever useful fingers, and it's possible to drop the rectangular / square ones into the hole, which is bad news for anyone below it, and bad news for anyone who may drive over / walk into it.

Plenty of friendly Sydneysiders on here who'll show you the ropes if you give them the time & respect they deserve.

Scarecrow · 07 Jan 2014, 3:26 pm

Sydney has some of the heaviest manhole lids in the world. The 'bath plug' shape makes them especially difficult to lift if there's any kind of debris fallen in between the collar and lid. They can weigh around 80kg, and if you don't lift one correctly it can flip sideways and get wedged.

No+Pro · 07 Jan 2014, 4:46 pm

hadn't thought about the square ones being tricky, got me thinking twice about one i want to have a look in now

twokick · 07 Jan 2014, 4:58 pm

man hole keys are a pain and most situations call for two people each with a manhole key.
and their almost a meter long and don't fit anywhere conveniently so there you and a mater are walking down the road manhole keys in hands, its not conspicuous.

manholes themselves are typically a pain, a pushed down manhole can be impossible to even budge.

there are so many reasons i prefer rooftops to drains and 90% of them are the entry points

Barnz · 07 Jan 2014, 5:20 pm

Ive seen keys 10 cm long

. A supersoaker for cleaning dirt out of gaps n wd40 for lube after. Works for me

twokick · 07 Jan 2014, 5:48 pm

Barnz wrote:Ive seen keys 10 cm long .

thems fighting words whip it out, we'll compare

No+Pro · 07 Jan 2014, 6:52 pm

its not about how big it is, its how you use it
i find the 10cm ones..a good size

Barnz · 08 Jan 2014, 6:24 am

Bit more strain on the back, but great size.

No+Pro · 08 Jan 2014, 6:43 am

easy to chuck in a pocket/under the car seat/in a bush when being pursued too

TiNy · 08 Jan 2014, 9:57 am

Tnx guys. Think i might just go in through the grill. Does anyone have a map of fortress. Like the map of it not the location like the features and all that. I saw it somewhere on the internet somewhere but i didnt mark it in my bookmarks.

Aydun · 08 Jan 2014, 11:09 am

If you go in with a torch and use your observational skills, you probably won't need a map!

Spades · 11 Jan 2014, 12:19 am

You will not need a map for Fortress but good luck finding a way to getting into it!

twokick · 27 Jan 2014, 8:06 pm

Spades wrote:You will not need a map for Fortress but good luck finding a way to getting into it!

id really like to get my hands on these infamous maps!

twokick · 10 Feb 2014, 7:13 pm

speaking of manholes does anyone know why councils use square manhole covers?

i dropped one in last night, the 5 meters it feel might of well been a mile with the sound it made. getting that thing back to street level wasnt an option so i kinda just left it. i do feel bad but the council coulda saved hours of retrieval by just making it round!

was one of the square ones that split in half

Aydun · 10 Feb 2014, 8:17 pm

What if someone steps in it and dies?

No+Pro · 10 Feb 2014, 8:27 pm

Maybe shoulda called council and reported a loose manhole. There are a few squares ones around brisbane but they seemed to have stopped using them a while back, prob too hard to replace with round. Theres one in particular I really want to have a look in but if we go down, run the risk of dropping it in, need someone to stay up top n pit it back maybe?

Dynamite · 10 Feb 2014, 10:09 pm

I volunteer... to NOT be that person

I wanna look too, y'know

Scarecrow · 11 Feb 2014, 1:12 pm

twokick wrote:speaking of manholes does anyone know why councils use square manhole covers?

i dropped one in last night, the 5 meters it feel might of well been a mile with the sound it made. getting that thing back to street level wasnt an option so i kinda just left it. i do feel bad but the council coulda saved hours of retrieval by just making it round!

was one of the square ones that split in half

The two triangular halve manholes are called Trimars. Manholes look like they're becoming more standard now, with a lot of new stuff being GATICs (Gas Air Tight Inspection Cover); which come in a few standard sizes, both round and square.

There so many older ones though, and the 'eye' piece to lift them with are often different sizes.

Why wasn't it an option to retrieve the piece of manhole? It's easy enough to carry it back up a shaft with it placed across your chest and shoulder.

I had once dropped a 1m x 1m square GATIC cover down a shaft in Brisbane. That was a mission to retrieve.

dodger · 11 Feb 2014, 10:26 pm

Scarecrow wrote: I had once dropped a 1m x 1m square GATIC cover down a shaft in Brisbane. That was a mission to retrieve.

That would have weighed a good 60-70kg? How on earth did you manage that?!

Scarecrow · 13 Feb 2014, 1:27 pm

d0dg3r wrote:
Scarecrow wrote: I had once dropped a 1m x 1m square GATIC cover down a shaft in Brisbane. That was a mission to retrieve.
That would have weighed a good 60-70kg? How on earth did you manage that?!

Had someone with me to help with it. Regular-sized Sydney manholes often weigh around 70kg. If you can manage to push one of those up from underneath you're doing well!