Project Spotlight: Kansas City’s 500-Manhole Rehabilitation Program Hits Midpoint

The Kansas City Water Services Department is celebrating a major milestone in its multi-year manhole rehabilitation program: 250 manholes completed, with 250 more scheduled through 2027. The $3.1 million program represents one of the most systematic approaches to manhole asset management we’ve seen at the municipal level, and we asked project manager David Chen to share what’s working.

Program Background

Kansas City’s collection system includes approximately 42,000 manholes, with installation dates ranging from the 1920s to the present. Like most mid-century American cities, KCWS had a significant backlog of uninspected and unrehabilitated manholes — particularly in older urban core neighborhoods where brick and block construction predominates.

The program launched in 2024 following a system-wide MACP inspection of 5,000 high-priority manholes (selected based on age, system mapping, and historical maintenance records). Of those 5,000 inspections, 847 were rated Grade 3 or above, with 112 rated Grade 4 or 5 requiring immediate action.

The Approach

“We made a conscious decision to do this differently than a lot of cities,” Chen explains. “Instead of just writing a contract for 500 manholes and hoping for the best, we built a framework for every project decision — what gets polyurea, what gets structural relining, how we document, how we verify quality.”

The decision framework uses a simplified version of the risk matrix approach: condition grade plus traffic loading plus consequence of failure gives a priority score. Grade 4–5 manholes received engineer review and either structural relining or replacement before any protective coating was applied. Grade 2–3 manholes in H2S-producing segments received high-build polyurea. Grade 1–2 manholes in non-H2S segments received chimney seals and frame/cover work only.

Quality Control: The Differentiator

The program’s most innovative element may be its quality control protocol. Every manhole receives a pre-application inspection (moisture content test, surface profile verification, ambient and substrate temperature documentation) and a post-application inspection (adhesion pull-off test, visual inspection for pinholes or thin spots, thickness verification at three points).

“We had one manhole fail post-application testing because of an adhesion issue in one section — moisture content was at the high end of the spec range and the substrate temperature was lower than we’d seen before,” Chen says. “We caught it, removed and reapplied, and now that manhole has a documented passing test on file. That documentation matters for our asset management records and for our regulators.”

Results So Far

At the midpoint, flow monitoring in the areas where rehabilitation is complete shows a 9% reduction in wet weather peak flow — consistent with pre-program projections. The program has documented 38 manholes where chimney seal replacement alone eliminated visible inflow during monitored rain events.

The program is on budget and ahead of schedule, with the contractor team achieving an average of 6 manhole completions per day during favorable weather periods.

Lessons for Other Municipalities

Chen’s advice for other public works departments considering a similar program:

• “Start with the MACP data. You can’t prioritize what you haven’t measured.”
• “Don’t treat all manholes the same. A one-size-fits-all spec wastes money on over-engineering low-risk assets and under-protects high-risk ones.”
• “Build the quality control protocol into the contract — don’t leave it to the contractor’s discretion. Define your acceptance criteria before you go to bid.”
• “Track your flow response. If you’re spending this kind of money, you should be able to demonstrate the system-level impact.”

Full case study documentation — including the prioritization framework, specifications, and QC protocols used by KCWS — will be published in the Manhole Recovery case study library when the program reaches completion in 2027.

Is your municipality running a rehabilitation program with results worth sharing? Contact us — we’re always looking for project spotlights that can help others learn.

Related reading: Building a Manhole Asset Management Program from Scratch | Comparing Trenchless Rehabilitation Methods | Federal Funding for Rehabilitation Programs