Tampa’s Manhole Covers Still Sealed After 10 Years

Case study · Municipal

In 2016 Rowland placed Perma-Patch® around City of Tampa manhole frames as the permanent repair, not a placeholder. Crews compacted and reopened the lane the same day. Ten years later the collars are still tight, the joint is still sealed, and no frame on the treated set has been back on a work order.

10+years in service

2016year placed

0follow-up repairs

10Florida summers

City of Tampa crew member with a hand on a Perma-Patch collar placed in 2016, the surrounding lane cracked and the collar intact — A 2016 collar in an active Tampa travel lane. The pavement around it has cracked. The collar has not.

The problem: the collar fails before the rest of the lane does

Pavement around a manhole frame takes every wheel load twice, once on the approach and once coming off the lip. That ring ravels out before the rest of the lane shows any distress. Tampa had frames in that condition across the system and a rehab program that moves on a fiscal calendar instead of a pavement one. The choice was an open joint or a repair specified to stay in the road.

Wheel impact. Repeated loading at the frame lip breaks the ring down first.
Water. Once the joint opens, runoff gets under the collar and undercuts it.
Schedule. A permanent frame reset needs funding, traffic control, and a crew, so it waits.

Rowland crew examining an open City of Tampa manhole with the cover set aside — Cover off, 2026. Checking what the collar did to the frame underneath.

Manhole cover and its repair collar sitting flush with the travel lane on a Tampa street — Flush with the lane. No lip to catch a plow blade or a tire.

Crew inspecting a 2016 manhole collar at the centerline of a Tampa street, cracking through the surrounding pavement — A frame at the centerline, where the loading is worst.

The fix

Rowland opened bags of Perma-Patch and placed it cold, straight around the frames. Crews cleaned the loose material out of the joint, placed, compacted, opened the lane, and moved to the next frame.

The material takes density from traffic instead of losing it. The same wheel loads that raveled the original ring tighten the patch. Tampa pulled covers on the same frames in 2026. The collars are intact, the joints are closed, and none of the treated frames has come back on a work order.

The reset budgeted for those frames in 2016 has not been needed.

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Rowland crew inspecting a manhole repair on a residential Tampa street with the Rowland truck parked behind — Rowland on a residential street, checking a repair they placed a decade ago.

Crew member pointing into an open manhole frame while a probe is lowered down the chimney — The chimney below a treated frame.

Rowland crew talking through the inspection around an open City of Tampa manhole — Rowland walking the set.

2016 and 2026, the same frames

Condition on the treated set before the repair and at the 2026 inspection.

Collar condition: Raveled, joint open; Intact, joint closed
Return work orders: Recurring; None on the treated set
Permanent frame reset: Budgeted; Not needed

Source: City of Tampa and Rowland site inspection, 2026. Placement date and scope reported by Rowland.

Who did the work

Rowland, an AllClear company, has worked Florida underground utility and sewer infrastructure for more than 37 years and is NASSCO certified. The 2016 placement and the 2026 inspection were both theirs.

Ten years in the same collars. No reset ever ordered.

Perma-Patch is specified as a permanent repair, not a placeholder. The collar is a compaction problem, not a temperature problem. Perma-Patch densifies under the same wheel loads that raveled the original ring, so the joint tightens instead of opening. The frames placed in 2016 were inspected in 2026 and have not been back on a work order. The gradation and performance data are in the submittal package.

Questions Tampa asked first

Does it need a tack coat or primer around the frame?

No. The material bonds to the vertical face of the frame and to the cut edge of the pavement without a tack coat. Crews clean the loose material out of the joint, place, and compact. That is the whole sequence.

How long before the lane opens?

Immediately. There is no cure window, so the frame takes traffic as soon as the patch is compacted. On a lane Tampa could not hold closed, that is the difference between the repair getting done and getting deferred.

Will Florida heat and standing water break the seal?

The treated frames have been through ten summers and ten wet seasons. The joints are still closed. The material does not soften into rutting at pavement temperature and it does not wash out of a wet joint.

What did this cost against a full frame reset?

A fraction of it, and on this set the reset has not been needed. The money budgeted for those frames in 2016 stayed available for the rest of the system.

Can we specify this on our own manhole work?

Yes. The submittal package carries the gradation, the performance data, and the placement detail your engineer will ask for. Request it below and it comes as a single PDF.

Specifying manhole work this season?

The submittal package has the gradation, the performance data, and the placement detail for the frames on your list. One PDF, no call required.

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