While digging in a neglected bed on my property, I uncovered what appears to be an old dry well. It's about 4 feet deep, and 2 feet around, and the lid has rusted away. I nearly fell into it. It is empty, with gravel at the bottom, and a 3 inch clay pipe entering it from the nearby property line. The walls are corrugated steel, with some holes made in spots around them.
The clay pipe is open as far as I can probe. The well seems preserved, except for the lid, but can't tell how long ago any water was actually in it. It is dry now but there's been no rain for a week or more.
My first thought was to fill it with gravel, so no one could ever fall into it, lid or not, but then it seemed to me that whoever designed it wanted it to be empty, I assume to handle more water.
Would it be best just to cover it with a lid, and replace the soil, or would it make sense to leave some sort of access to it? I believe modern codes would require some sort of marking, and inspection lid, though that only makes sense I guess, especially if it still needs to be functional.
Anyone else ever dealt with this?
The clay pipe is open as far as I can probe. The well seems preserved, except for the lid, but can't tell how long ago any water was actually in it. It is dry now but there's been no rain for a week or more.
My first thought was to fill it with gravel, so no one could ever fall into it, lid or not, but then it seemed to me that whoever designed it wanted it to be empty, I assume to handle more water.
Would it be best just to cover it with a lid, and replace the soil, or would it make sense to leave some sort of access to it? I believe modern codes would require some sort of marking, and inspection lid, though that only makes sense I guess, especially if it still needs to be functional.
Anyone else ever dealt with this?