How to raise and put a top on a storm water maintenance pit?

[marspin]

 

 Council said it’s my asset and we can do what we want to it as long as they can get to it if need to I’ve asked about raising it and putting a top on it then cover a little with soul and then put a back shed on it they said that’s fine as long as they can get to it my question is what’s the best material to use corner post and sleepers I thought but a little bit expensive I’m thinking some kind of board screw it together like a box with lid on top what do you guys think and what’s your recommendations ? Need all the help with this thanks guys  Mario

sorry I forgot to mention I’ll be raising the back yard by about 800mm high to make it level there will be retaining walls around boundary fence line that’s the reason to raise the storm water maintenance pit thanks

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @marspin and thanks for your question.

Let me tag our resident D.I.Y. expert in @EricL as well as experienced member @Adam_W to see if he can share his thoughts. 

Please don't hesitate to post anytime you need a hand with a project around the house and garden, or have something to share with the community. 

Jason

[EricL · Accepted solution]

Hello @marspin

Thank you for sharing your question about how to raise a stormwater maintenance pit.

My apologies for the late reply. It's great that the council's only condition for the maintenance pit is the ability to access it. I suggest making a timber tunnel to go around the cement pit's edge. The condition of the build is that there must be enough room to get the cement cover out should you need to access the maintenance pit.  

I suggest using 200 x 50mm x 3m Hyne Timber Pine Sleeper as the tunnel's main body. Depending on the size of the actual pit, I approximate that you will need at least 3 lengths to make the tunnel and the cover. I recommend using Selleys 350g Heavy Duty Liquid Nails to join them together and using Zenith 14G x 100mm Galvanised Type 17 Batten Bugle Head Timber Screws - 25 Pack N to prevent them from shifting.

You may use your preferred method of anchoring the tunnel to the top of the pit. The tunnel can be buried and is strong enough to be surrounded by soil. Please have a look at the suggested sketch and tell us what you think.

Let me tag our experienced members @Adam_W and @diy_hausdesigns for their recommendations.

If you need more advice or information, please let us know.

Eric

[marspin]

Hi Eric and thank you for your input I like your idea also  and will look into it I think your idea is more cost affective  I appreciate your feed back

I must say what a great idea the  Bunnings workshop is well done  Mario

 Hi Eric sorry I forgot to put in the dimensions for the storm water pit  its 1300 mm all around  thanks Mario

[EricL]

Hi @marspin

I'm glad my suggestion helped. I was comparing it to making a brick or cement-based tunnel and the 200 x 50mm x 3m Hyne Timber Pine Sleeper was the most cost-effective material to use. It was also the quickest to build.

If you need more advice or information, please let us know.

Eric

[marspin]

Thanks Eric awesome info great job thanks  dimensions all around  storm water pit is 1300mm  and height 750mm thanks Mario

[pstq]

Don't forget they'll need room to be able to get a tool in to open it. I don't know if there are special tools that would work in a confined space, but these screenshots show how they normally do it.

[marspin]

Thanks for that good advice I’ll leave some extra space for this and if that doesn’t work I’ll just have to dig out one side to get to it if they ever need to get to this pit thanks again Mario

[EricL]

Hello @pstq

Thank you for joining the discussion and sharing your knowledge about the stormwater maintenance pit. I'm sure @marspin will find the information useful when they build the maintenance pit tunnel. If you have any projects you would like to share, please don't hesitate to post an update. We are keen to see what you're working on. 

Eric