"Matty F" wrote in message
...
On Oct 1, 1:27 am, Jules
wrote:
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:38:54 -0700, Matty F wrote:
Eventually, put a 5 ton jack under the crowbar, and the cover lifted
up.
I estimate that I applied about a 1 ton force with the jack, and the
4:1 leverage of the crowbar made it about a 4 ton pull to lift the
cover.

Heck - I'm surprised it didn't just pull the whole surround out of the
ground, too. That sounds seriously jammed...

Well the jack and the crowbar fulcrum are both on the steel that the
box is welded on to! I was expecting the 16mm thread on the bolt to
strip first.

(rail noticed in the photo too, as Tim did - if the spring idea doesn't
work out, maybe some sort of heavy weight that can flip between two
positions, moved by a cunning arrangement of levers so it doesn't require
much effort?)

It's a tram rail. That means that people will drive cars all over it.
So we can't have any levers sticking up.

I can't imagine how you managed to try to freeze it. Quite a lot of mass.