eli5 why are manhole covers in the middle of the road and not on the sidewalk?
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Wow, all these answers are kind of bad. Actual civil engineer here. There are many reasons, none really take precedence over any other. Sometimes manholes are in the sidewalk but not always. Here are some of the most common reasons. 1. The utilities need to be accessible and in the public right of way. Due to American construction the right of way always includes the road from curb to curb. It does not always include the sidewalk. 2. Space, underground utilities can turn into rats nests real quick. Take a look at a NYC cross section some time. Most companies try to separate their services from one and another but there is only so much space and a lot of things go under ground. The area under the sidewalk might have storm drainage under it, or electric, but that might mean their isn’t space for anything else. So maybe sanitary sewer and potable water need to go in the street.
3. Ada, this is a newish consideration (20-30) years now. Putting utility boxes and grates in the sidewalk is frowned on now because they can create triping hazards that can cause issues for accessibility and walkability.
4. It’s possible the utilities were under the sidewalk when they were originally built. But then they widened the road and now the new lanes are where the sidewalk was. 5. Landscaping (tree roots) can damage utilities. ain’t no landscaping in the middle of the road.
6. Access, utilities are serviced by vehicles and its a lot easier to block a lane of traffic for a few hours then to potentially need to go offroading with a maintenance vehicle or walk your equipment and material from your truck.
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