This topic

BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:24:46 GMT

Morning All,

I noticed over the weekend that a duct cover between mine and my neighbours house which has started to break and part of it appears to have collapsed. At first glance i though it was either a Severn Trent water one or a BT one.

I've reported it to Severn Trent who came out yesterday and had a look and stated it's not one of theres, so can anyone confirm from this pic if it is a BT one or not - https://ibb.co/vBjmBJN

Thanks,

Darren

Re: BT duct cover?

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:30:47 GMT

@darren221980

Its Openreach not BT Retail.

Start here https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/damage-health-and-safety

Examples her https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/help-and-support/damage-health-and-safety/identifying_our_equipment_guide.pdf

It looks like Very old round
CW no.1

Re: BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:38:04 GMT

Thanks Keith.

Nice and quick to report, OR should take a look in next 48 hours.

Re: BT duct cover?

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:43:04 GMT

Excellent 😀

Re: BT duct cover?

iniltous — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 11:02:06 GMT

I don’t think that is a BT/OR cover at all, I have several like that around my property , they are water/sewage inspection hole covers …

CW in reference to Openreach, is Carriageway, so the covers will only be found in the road, or where is the possibility of heavy goods vehicles passing over them..and that image of a CW No1, will be around 1 sq metre ,( not the round one ) I suspect the image the OP has posted will probably be no more than around 20-25cm square, and would have no benefit to OR , after all what could be housed in it than may need access to it ?, it’s not likely to be a joint box cover ( as the name suggests used to contain cable joints ) , perhaps the OP can post another image with another item for reference, to confirm the size of the cover

Re: BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 11:26:54 GMT

Already had Severn Trent look at it yesterday and they claim it's not for water / sewage.

Just measured the cover and it is 32cm x 32cm in size.

Re: BT duct cover?

iniltous — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:06:00 GMT

In the images of the BT/OR joint box covers it’s possible to see the metal ‘keyholes’ that the ( mechanical) box lifting apparatus fits into , to lift the lid , the image you posted has no such ‘key holes ‘ and as far as I know , a jointbox as small as that shown , would be of no possible use in housing something that OR may need access to, the smallest joint box I’m aware of is a joint box 23,( JB23) which is probably 2 to 2.5 times the size.
I’m not suggesting you lift the lid, but suspect if you did there would be a vertical ‘pipe’ that gave access to larger water or sewage pipes , especially if it’s on your property or between you and a neighbour, most OR joint boxes are in the public footpath or highway , where access is available all the time , and not on private land….

TBH , the ones on my property are in a similar state, and not really in danger of collapse or anything, and are definitely the water authority, as some were incorporated into a block paved area and ‘replaced’ with integrated covers that the blocks fitted into.

Re: BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:01:33 GMT

ah fair enough.

Only other option that i can think of, if OR says it's not theres is for me to ask my local council. That will be a slow process, they are as much use as a chocolate teapot unless they are wanting money from me.

Re: BT duct cover?

iniltous — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:19:11 GMT

Again , not really suggesting you need to do this , but if someone flushes a toilet whilst someone else has an ear close to the cover, you may even hear the sound of the water passing by….it’s an unpleasant thought , but if drains get blocked, it’s where the ‘Dyno Rods’ of this world insert their unblocking rods , or water jets , to dislodge the offending items, I cannot understand why the water company disowned them , unless it’s some other utility, but I can’t think of an alternative

Re: BT duct cover?

darrendz1 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:42:02 GMT

I know this has been marked as solved, but in case it’s not Openreach, you may find it’s an access point for one of the old cable TV / wired relay networks (such as rediffusion/transdiffusion and other varieties).

Re: BT duct cover?

Starwire — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:51:20 GMT

Definitely not Openreaches.

Re: BT duct cover?

Devon_Dave — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:02:23 GMT

Yep, can also confirm not openreach or any of the previous companies

Re: BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:25:30 GMT

So last night, i managed to shine a light down into, get a good look down the hole thats appeared in this cover. I was able to see what looked like a passage for water and openings at either end of it.

So i've reported it back to Severn Trent again, as it's got to be theres I suspect now so hopefully they can fix.

OR did have a quick look this morning too and said it's definately not theres either.

Re: BT duct cover?

darrendz1 — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:37:39 GMT

Looking at the logo, the bar to lift and your dimensions, it might be one of these:

https://www.polypipe.com/housing/below-ground-drainage/drainage/inspection-chambers-covers-and-frames-polypropylene/underground-drainage-320mm-square-concrete-cover-frame-ug499

Re: BT duct cover?

iniltous — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:48:49 GMT

FWIW, I would have thought that this cover, although covering ‘water’ services, because it’s on the OP’s property is nothing to do with Severn Water in that , when they visited previously, and said something along the lines as, ‘nothing to do with us’ , wasn’t to say the cover wasn’t an access point to water/sewage, just that it’s the householders drain cover , and the householders responsibility to replace it ( if it needs to be replaced )

Re: BT duct cover?

Keith_Beddoe — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:23:13 GMT

@iniltous

That would be the most likely answer, and the image on the website posted by @darrendz1 , is the nearest match.

Re: BT duct cover?

darren221980 — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:55:50 GMT

Severn trent turned up again today and now agreed that it is there responsibility due to it being a shared drain.

Only issue now though is that they couldn't actually remove the cover so likely to need to dig.

Anyway, thats for everyone's input on this so far.