Talk:Key:manhole

the current definition of the manhole=* tag doesn't fit well into the current man_made=pipeline scheme, since it again defines the substance=* (redundancy). I propose to tag manholes as follows:

• on a node of the man_made=pipeline way
• pipeline=manhole
• no need to define substance=*, since it is already an attribute of the pipeline.

this fits well into the scheme of defining valves, marker, ...--Rfuegen (talk) 20:15, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

However underground pipelines can be hard to survey, so often someone would just map the manholes and not link them together with a pipeline way just because they aren't sure exactly which ones connect and in which way. So in this case you still need a way to say that the manhole has a particular substance. --Aharvey (talk) 03:51, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

Difference between manhole=rainwater and manhole=drain?

Hello, could you please clarify the difference between those two? My current assumption is:

• manhole=drain is an inflow for rain water and an average sized human wouldn't fit through, e.g.: [1]. This would conflict with the image from https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:manhole%3Ddrain which looks more like a maintainance access to me.
• manhole=rainwater is a maintainance access (human fits through) for a culvert (sometimes hundred of meters long) which carries rain water from a river or from multiple manhole=drain. E.g. [2] on top of [3]

And is "culvert" the correct term for a long underground rainwater pipe? --Wulf4096 (talk) 06:55, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Think about utility tag

utility=* provides a more robust framework to describe which activity a given passive infrastructure is linked to. Manholes are in the scope, just like building=*, marker=*, street_cabinet=*. A few proposal has to be drafted to propose such changes. Fanfouer (talk) 21:37, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

Even if the values here are untidy, I can see it trying to distinguish sewage and stormwater when utility=sewerage doesn't explicitly yet. There are at least combined, partially separate, and separate sewer. ---- Kovposch (talk) 09:21, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Even if it's true, it's a matter of utility=* or sewerage definition, not specific to manholes. You also find storm water cabinets and pipelines, then a common key would be more useful than a dedicated manhole=* value. Fanfouer (talk) 13:41, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Some holes are NOT wide enough for people

"just large enough for a human to climb through" ... Well it just so happens, that there are a wide variety of other mysterious covers that appear on lawns, roads, sidewalks, but are not exactly wide enough for a human to go through. I suppose in this case we will still use the manhole tag, but we will specify the width dimension to make sure people don't have any funny plans about using them to hide from the Mounties. Jidanni (talk) 14:10, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Agreed, its funny to me that this peculiar detail is specified. However, now you've pointed it out I think it has some charm to it so I like it. ---- CarrotManMatt (talk) 00:29, 21 Oct 2022 (UTC)

No, they are other covers. Access is defining for manholes. --- Kovposch (talk) 11:40, 21 October 2022 (UTC)

I've never heard of any other tags for a cover. Could you give me an example? ---- CarrotManMatt (talk) 13:44, 21 Oct 2022 (UTC)

Bigger than a manhole

There is an elephant sized vent(?) hole with a grate in some sidewalk. Mention how to map. Jidanni (talk) 16:11, 12 October 2023 (UTC)