Locating a handhole

sparky1118

sparky1118

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Occupation
Master Electrician
Does anyone have a trick or an idea as to how to locate a hand hole? I need to connect into it. The utility company said “it’s on the other side of the road” but they don’t know exactly where and I’m having a bear of a time trying to find it.


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I would try a circuit tracer that is designed for underground work. You can probably rent one from a tool rental place. Something like this Amprobe.


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Yep... if the handhole is overgrown I'd start with the tracer under the assumption that something (CATV, typically) has a squawker signal. If that doesn't pan out, just walk back and forth in the general area, poking into the ground with a glo-rod. The cover won't be deep.
 
hbiss said:
Ah, no, no such thing. And geeze, if the utility company can't find it- they have the equipment. Just too lazy.
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Regional? Someone rings up 811 (our free "call before you dig" service) and depending on who gets sent, I'll either see one color for everything, or different for electric, gas, and (only at the street) CATV+POTS. But yeah, you'd think the utility could do it. Maybe if MA has a similar call-dig hotline, sparky could ring that up and narrow down the search area?
 
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