Check out the Neenah foundry company, we used these inside new nys correctional facility projects, the one super max I was on had something like 172 manholes, each of which I had the pleasure of climbing into and inspecting. Anything leaving under the fence like storm drainage was 8" dia or less, they just put more pipe in to make up the difference. Municipalities should spec secure locking type manhole covers, it would slow them down and make em more visible even if they got the tools, though they should be restricted. The problem is though certain people who have to react to problems underground can also be slowed down. I can't believe people resort to this. They do get taken out of service on construction projects, and what is the owner of the legit scrap to do, heck I've got a frame and cover from W22nd st in Manhattan, abandoned electrical manhole, no need for it, so it came home with me, as it would be plenty useful for a septic tank access or similar, or scrap etc. These and what's even worse is those hand hole covers for your water main laterals over the gate valves for incoming service to a building, they're smaller, easier to get out, and leave a nice leg breaker if yoou don't see it. Street mongers will pick em up and use em as a weapon, talked an angry one out of doing it when I was in my wreckless youth, well not sure what happened or why he turned his sights on three of us, but he did and just pulled one of those up for a weapon, problem was, the other 2 of us would have taken him out, he somehow agreed, good for him actually.
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