State takes cautionary steps after manhole cover accidents

The Massachusetts Highway Department will inspect storm grates and manhole covers on the Cape, among other locations, after accidents involving loose covers and grates disabled five vehicles in six days on Boston area highways.

One man, Pawel Swierczynski, 39, of North Easton, was critically injured July 27 when a large truck sent a loose storm drain grate through his front windshield on Route 128 in Westwood.

By Wednesday, state highway workers were nearly finished inspecting grates and covers in road construction areas across the state and were going to start examining state roadways in high traffic volume areas of the state, said John Lamontagne, spokesman for MassHighway. He did not say when the Cape's roads would be surveyed.

The highway department was on the Cape a month ago, repairing storm drains on a stretch of Route 6 between Exits 4 and 6. In the incident on Route 128, traffic was being diverted into the emergency lane, where storm drains are located.

Experts contacted last week said that nearly all storm drain and manhole covers rely on their heavy weight, typically 200 or more pounds, to keep them in place. If dislodged, particularly in busy traffic areas where vehicles are traveling at high speeds, they can become airborne.

"It's a pretty rare occurrence," said Lamontagne.

He said state highway workers were either welding loose covers to their frames or using rubberized asphalt to seal them in place.

Two-hundred pound storm grates being flung about like Frisbees is nothing new, said James Troup, the treasurer and part owner of LeBaron Foundry in Brockton. LeBaron is one of the major manufacturers of iron grates and manhole covers in the state.

"I've heard of it happening, not every blue moon, but it has happened," said Troup, who has been with LeBaron for 35 years. He said his company does supply manhole covers that lock to the frame, but it is mainly intended for security. Highway departments do not purchase many, he said.

Troup said that gravity should hold his products in place, but that road construction, in particular, can jar them from their frames.

Natural forces can also dislodge the heavy iron covers. On Thanksgiving Day 2005, Erin Healy was headed toward the Sagamore Bridge on Bourne's Scenic Highway when a manhole cover snapped the axle on her vehicle. Healy, who is editor of PrimeTime Magazine, which is owned by the Cape Cod Times, crashed into the guardrail, but was not injured.

Bourne police Sgt. Christopher Farrell said heavy rains flow through the highway drainage system with such force that they actually lift the covers off the road. Cars going 50 to 60 mph either hit the cover and are damaged themselves or they fling the heavy metal object into other vehicles.

"There were a few cars damaged," said Farrell about the incident involving Healy. MassHighways workers bolted the cover down, he said.

Town department of public works superintendents contacted yesterday said they routinely monitor their storm grates and manhole covers while doing road work and annual catch basin cleaning. They had no plans to weld or otherwise secure covers.

"The idea is that you want to be able to lift them up in a pretty quick manner to clean them," said Dennis DPW Superintendent David Johansen. He said the town has 3,000 catch basin grates and a smaller number of manhole covers used to access public utilities and some storm drains.

"There's no way a small town with a small staff could inspect those on a daily basis," Johansen said.

Bourne DPW Superintendent Richard Tellier said his staff uses a sealing tape around the frame to help hold covers in place. He said one problem is that some manufacturers make covers that are an inch smaller than the frame and that leaves enough room that they rattle and possibly become loose.

Doug Fraser can be reached at [email protected].

Town department of public works superintendents say they depend on the public to report loose covers and grates. And the state has set up a hot line: Dial #321 on a cellphone or 1-888-359-9595 from a land line.