Gaseous Dihydrogen Monoxide

Picture a parking lot, any regular old slab of asphalt with a few lines painted on it. A single car sits idling at the far edge. Its the middle of the night and nothing else moves. You see another car come barreling into the lot, the driver’s jerky motions behind the wheel throwing off screeches as the rubber grinds along the pavement. Both vehicles parked, four suspicious looking characters emerge. One grabs a large piece of metal from the trunk of his car and they cross the lot. The four of them stop and look down at a manhole cover, the one with the metal bar inserts it into the large round lid and pulls. Quickly and without words the four climb down into the hole, pulling the heavy lid back behind them. It falls into place with a low pitched clank, punctuating the preceding action, and returning the stillness to the scene.

All urban environments have an underground. In order to maximize efficiency of space and the aesthetic of whats above ground a considerable amount of public infrastructure is run below. Where once most phone calls were routed through micro wave towers, now your voice is carried underground at light speed via a national network of fiber optic cable. In high density areas electricity is routed through cables and run through transformers that all lie beneath street level. Water, sewage, storm relief, even sometimes pneumatic postage delivery networks are run through the dirt. Lastly, and most important for the adventure of this post, pressurized steam is pumped into buildings for heat via networks of underground pipes. To maintain and monitor these conduits tunnel networks are built which enable passage for workers.

With respect to subterranean infrastructure, steam tunnels are the easiest for the curious to explore.  In the post 9/11 world underground fiber optic and electrical networks have been given beefed up security, since a few snips can wipe out communication or power in a whole city.  But steam is not a viable target for any would be jihadists out there so those in possession of such networks need only be concerned with misguided miscreants like us. The ease of entry should not lull the explorer into complacency, however, as there are definite hazards. Older networks experience periodic pipe bursts. When the super heated steam explodes into such a confined space one would not want to be in the vicinity, lest they wish to have their face melted off. Leaks can squirt a small bit of ultra hot pain onto exposed skin, leaving a burn that will sting for a few days. Lastly the heat in less ventilated networks can be stifling and its not unthinkable to suffer some serious heat stroke down there if one is careless.

The benefits? Its hard to describe. You get to see a space that most people don’t even know exists. The more interesting structures and junctions make for good photographs. Infrastructure and engineering nerds get to see the triumphs of technology up close. Mapping whole systems can turn into a pet project, like working on a jigsaw puzzle or slowly assembling an engine in your living room. Something you work at over the course of months or even years. You can also have a lot of fun popping off a manhole cover in a busy area and crawling out while people stand with very confused looks on their faces. Confused because most of them never consider the world beneath their feet.