The ’Maintenance Shaft’ (commonly called MS) are non-entry structures used in lieu of MHs to provide access to a sewer from the surface for maintenance and inspection purposes. They have the potential to reduce cost to the developer, reduce OH&S construction risks to contractors and minimise the entry to live sewers.
As part of our efforts to improve design efficiency and reduce the cost of sewerage infrastructure the use of MSs and curved sewers has been promoted as a means of reducing the number of maintenance holes. This design efficiency/innovation has resulted in significant savings in capital costs at various estates where the developer and CWW continue to focus on extracting efficiencies from infrastructure provision. CWW in conjunction with Delplant Civil Contractors and SMS Pty Ltd undertook a demonstration project at Caroline Springs to determine the benefits of using MSs as opposed to MH .
This paper highlights the benefits of using MSs as opposed to MHs for the project undertaken and provides useful information pertaining to design parameters of MSs, limitation of their use, and identifies subtle differences between the different MS manufacturer’s products and their range of fittings.
Download the Sewer Maintenance Shaft Demonstration Project document [PDF 572KB] for more information.