septic tank lid stuck

Posted by Ether Jones on April 11, 2006, 1:05 am

Just dug up the septic tank to get it pumped and I cannot lift the
concrete access cover. It is "frozen" in place (more like "chemically
bonded" I would say).
The tank is concrete and the access cover is concrete. The access
cover is rectangular in shape, about 12"x18". It has an iron handle
cast into the center. The sides of the cover are slightly angled so
that the cover fits snugly down into the access hole (like a stopper in
a utility sink).
I tried prying the cover up with a bar thru the iron handle. It
doesn't want to budge. Any more force and I'm sure I would break the
iron handle. I tried prying the cover up around the edges with a crow
bar but it just chips the concrete.
What are the recommended ways of dealing with this situation? Should I
use acid or some other chemical to try to break the "bond" that has
formed between the cover and the hole?
The tank is 11 years old, and I don't think the cover has been removed
since the tank was buried (cover is about 8" below ground surface
level).

Posted by mm on April 11, 2006, 1:27 am

wrote:
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Let the pumping company handle it?
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Posted by nicksanspam on April 11, 2006, 7:27 am

>Just dug up the septic tank to get it pumped and I cannot lift the
>concrete access cover. It is "frozen" in place (more like "chemically
>bonded" I would say).
>The tank is concrete and the access cover is concrete. The access
>cover is rectangular in shape, about 12"x18". It has an iron handle
>cast into the center. The sides of the cover are slightly angled so
>that the cover fits snugly down into the access hole...
You might use a tripod or a 55 gallon drum on each side with a beam and
a comealong to put (say) 500 pounds of uplift on the cover handle for
a few hours while sprinkling hot water around the edge and bonking it
with a 4x4. You could measure the cable tension by pulling it sideways
with your hand or a fish scale. A 4' cable with 500 pounds of tension
would move sideways about 1/2" with a 20 pound force in the middle.
Nick

Posted by Pop on April 11, 2006, 3:16 pm

...
A 4' cable with 500 pounds of tension
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Woof! Do you know that by empirical experience or is there some
magic lay-formula to use? Wouldn't it depend on the cable
composition?
Pop

Posted by nicksanspam on April 11, 2006, 4:26 pm

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With 400 pounds of cable tension and a sideways deflection distance d
and deflection angle a, 2x400sin(a) = 20 makes sin(a) = 0.025 = d/24,
approximately, for a 24" distance (half the cable length) so
d = 0.025x24 = 0.6".
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Not much.
Nick

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