Why Colorado Manholes Fail: Engineering Solutions That Work
Manholes collapsing in your community is one of those infrastructure nightmares that keeps public works directors up at night. When residents see emergency crews digging up streets and sewage backing up into their neighborhoods, they understandably demand answers. The truth is, most manhole failures come from predictable deterioration that we can prevent with the right approach. Understanding these problems helps communities fix them before they become expensive emergencies.
Common Causes of Manhole Deterioration
Municipal collection systems depend on manholes as critical access points and connection hubs. When these structures fail, the effects ripple through entire neighbourhoods.
Aging Infrastructure and Concrete Deterioration: Here’s the reality – many Colorado towns still operate manholes built 40, 50, even 100+ years ago. Concrete ages, and not gracefully and some manholes are made of BRICK! Hydrogen sulfide from wastewater creates acid that literally eats manholes from the inside out. This acid attack builds up year after year, weakening walls until they can’t handle normal loads anymore. Communities with manholes from the 1920s through 1980s see this constantly.
Freeze-Thaw Damage: Colorado’s climate hammers underground infrastructure harder than most places. Water seeps into tiny cracks, freezes, expands, and creates bigger cracks. Repeat this 100 times per year, and you are going to have issues. Mountain communities deal with this more than Front Range towns, but nobody escapes it completely.
Joint Separation and Infiltration: Manholes aren’t single pieces – they’re assembled from multiple sections with joints that can fail over time. When joints separate, groundwater pours in during wet weather, overwhelming treatment plants and washing out backfill around the structure. Spring snowmelt makes this problem worse across Colorado.
Impact on Communities and Budgets
Let’s address what really matters – how manhole failures affect your town’s bottom line and daily operations. Failed manholes create immediate safety hazards for crews and residents. Emergency repairs can start around $40,000 and go up fast, depending on depth and complexity.
But the real cost comes from service disruptions. When main line manholes fail, entire neighborhoods can lose sewer service. Emergency bypassing, traffic control, and expedited repairs add up quickly. One Front Range community we worked with faced $100,000+ in emergency costs when their main interceptor manhole collapsed during spring runoff, plus weeks of disrupted service.
Here’s what communities should watch for:
Infiltration during wet weather shows up as unexplained flow increases at your treatment plant. Joint separation creates rough surfaces that catch debris and cause backups. Concrete spalling exposes reinforcement to corrosion, accelerating deterioration.
If problems persist or worsen quickly, call engineering help. Waiting until catastrophic failure forces emergency action costs three times more than planned rehabilitation
Our Engineering Approach
As engineers specializing in collection systems, we don’t just react to failures – we help communities develop systematic programs to prevent them.
Structural Rehabilitation: We design cured-in-place lining systems that essentially build new manholes inside existing structures. These systems cost about 25% of complete reconstruction while adding 40+ years of service life.
Protective Coating Systems: For manholes showing early acid damage, we specify chemical-resistant coatings that stop deterioration completely. These barriers protect against hydrogen sulfide attack for decades.
Targeted Structural Repairs: Sometimes you don’t need full rehabilitation. We design concrete repairs using specialized materials that restore structural capacity and stop further deterioration. This works well when damage affects specific areas rather than the entire structure.
Complete Replacement Planning: When rehabilitation doesn’t make sense, we design new manholes using modern materials and construction techniques that handle Colorado’s challenging conditions better than original structures.
Community Action Steps
Public works directors shouldn’t just wait for failures to force decisions. Start by documenting which manholes show problems – infiltration, rough surfaces, visible deterioration. This information helps prioritize repairs and secure funding.
Engage in infrastructure planning discussions and advocate for systematic rehabilitation programs rather than reactive emergency repairs.
Colorado offers excellent financing for infrastructure improvements through State Revolving Fund loans and other programs. When communities support appropriate funding measures, utilities can accelerate rehabilitation programs that prevent emergency situations.
Modern Engineering Solutions – Your Infrastructure Partner
At Modern Engineering Solutions, we help Colorado communities develop manhole rehabilitation strategies that protect infrastructure investments while managing costs effectively. We’re licensed professional engineers who understand both the technical challenges and budget realities facing collection systems across our state.
We assess existing conditions, identify structures needing immediate attention, and create practical rehabilitation plans. Our designs use proven methods that handle Colorado’s climate while delivering decades of reliable service.
We evaluate your water system, prioritize problems based on real data, and design solutions that fit your budget and timeline requirements.