why are manhole covers round and not square?
Cecil has answered this already; search the Classic columns for “manhole”.
I’ve seen someone else answer it as well (though I can’t recall who), and he came to essentially the same conclusions, with the addition of “to minimize the number of decisions the guy from the DPW has to make when replacing it.”
::Sigh:: So it can’t fall in.
So we could roll it down the steep hill and into the creek. What a rumble, what a splash! Then they bolted it down but the 4-way lug wrench fit the bolts.Then they put a lock on it and we found something else to do.Thankfully no one ever drove into the open hole. I think, I hope.