Key:manhole

From OpenStreetMap Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Public-images-osm logo.svg manhole
Coverhkv.jpg
Description
Hole with a cover that allows access to an underground service location, just large enough for a human to climb through. Edit this description in the wiki page. Edit this description in the data item.
Group: man made
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysshould not be used on areasshould not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Documented values: 2
Requires
Useful combination
See also
Status: de factoPage for proposal

Hole with a cover that allows access to an underground service location, just large enough for a human to climb through.

This tag indicates the type or use of a man_made=manhole.

Where the pipeline it connects to has not yet been discovered, it can be beneficial to future mappers to mark the locations of manholes for later use.

Values

manhole=* can take any values, but the following are the first set in use

How to Map

It may be useful to document the shape of the cover with shape=*, and additionally the dimensions with width=*, length=* or diameter=*. material=* and colour=* can also be used.

If the cover is not made of a single material, but instead is covered in the same way as the surrounding surface, the values from the surface=* tag can be used inside of the material=* key (e.g. material=paving_stones). The additional details that follow that tagging scheme can also be used (e.g. paving_stones:pattern=*), however colour=* should be used instead of surface:colour=* (see above).

Manholes occasionally act as an inlet to some piece of liquids infrastructure (e.g. manhole=drain), in these cases, it is recommended to also tag the object with the corresponding inlet=* value, where appropriate.

Tips on surveying

Often the manhole covers themselves don't feature a description of what's below, but you'll find a marker on a nearby wall, or on a dedicated stick or ventilation shaft. On such markers you might be able to read the distance to the manhole along with a diameter of the pipeline and/or an indicator of pipeline contents; some markers feature a number suitable for the tag ref=*.

When the cast iron covers themselves read "40" or "25", it's usually just a maximum weight restriction (in tonnes).

Incorrect use on a covered gutter

Although it may seem tempting, this tag is not to be used on long covered gutters that also act as a drain. It should only be used on manhole cover nodenodes. No consensus has been made on how to tag this feature but there has been some discussion on the Key:inlet talk page.

See also