How long does it take to fix a sunken manhole cover putting "cyclists' safety at risk" ?

Strange how different companies respond to different people. Saw a sunken cover on my night shift, called it in and by the time I came to ride in the next night Southwest Water had fixed it.

I was brought down by a valve cover - or lack of one and its wooden plug replacement had rotated by 45 degrees. The roads authority (Council) claimed the road was in perfect order but everywhere the case valve covers were missing and replaced by wooden plugs - some in place so long that grass was growing in the hole.

Manhole covers sink because the detailing of the joint between tarmac (flexible) and steel (rigid) is poorly executed. A transition strip which is part flexible/part rigid is a good solution and it works - look at some of the older manholes on the A10 in Hackney and they have a course of stone blocks between the tarmac and the steel edge. The stone blocks can move by a small amount laid with a tight bond and sealed with liquid tar so the blocks stay close to the edge of the steel. Tarmac does not stick to steel proven daily across the UK around thousands of manhole frames and drain grids (you'd have thought someone might have noticed this by now!) the stone blocks do keep the gap against the steel closed, bond better to the tarmac, and move with it.

This is also the solution for the edge of tram rails BUT the spec is heavy stone setts at least 6 inches deep, laid on a bed of clay or tar and with tight joints - not the rubbish which is generally laid today with a weak sand-cement mix brushed over the blocks to fill the wide gaps between them, Blocks are often far to 'thin' and laid on a sand bed that can be leached away by water seeping through the gaps between the blocks - all basically because its cheaper and faster not to lay to the old standards of craftsmanship.

Under the tarmac in many cities are streets laid with tight jointed flush top setts and when the tarmac breaks away these are revealed as a usable surface which does not suffer from potholes - except where a utility company has pulled them up and failed to repair the bed (tar or clay) and surface (putting back the setts properly). We have hers a flush setted street which has had no maintenance in over 160 years - and where the utilities have not wrecked it it is as good as the year it was laid, and it is smooth to cycle over. Very sadly one Council (Edinburgh) wrecked a beautifully smooth flush setted street (Cockburn Street) which was on my regular commute to the rail station by re-laying it in the WRONG sort of setts - with uneven and lumpy top faces and bigger gaps - really spoiled the 3 minute sprint from flat to train.