Mini digger working on/near public sewer manhole

Water company are never happy. If there is no other way digging around the manhole then you have to do it. Put few plywood sheets on top of it nice and level and go for it. At the end of the day is only 1.5t machine and is not gonna do anything to it.

You could get a road plate and place it over it that would spread the load no bother

You can hire road plates to put over it whilst excervating

You can Hire ground plates which cover up the ground where you’ll be tracking, the digger across it to help spread the weight of the machine across the ground. Or if possible, use a smaller machine to carry out the works. To decrease the pressure on the ground Main run foul pipes are are normally encased in concrete, so you should be fine depending on how new the pipes that run through your property hope this helps woks around drainage and diggers are normally dun with people and companies that know what they’re doing

The water company like to be extra cautious but two options really there’s ground/trench plates or ply boards which cover up the man hole where you’ll be sitting with the digger and as it spreads across it this should help spread the weight of the machine. Or option two is if possible, use a micro digger like a 1 tonne as they similar digging depth but as they’re half a tonne lighter this will will decrease the pressure on the ground