The first project of a modern sewer system for Milan was proposed to the City Council in 1868 by engineer Felice Poggi and those at Cesa Bianchi and Bignam. However this project would only cover Milan’s older ”downtown” district and excluded the outskirts past the canals and city wall. Construction was slow and arduous, taking almost ten years to build around 3700m of pipeline. The City Council pressured Poggi over the slow rate of development who stated that it would take years before a city wide network would be possible.
Oh Italy, to say i have fond memories of her would be a lie. When i last visited her shores the trip met with a very abrupt end involving metro security guards shouting lots of loud angry gibberish while brandishing guns, more police then you can count on your fingers and a night in the superintendents office down at the HQ watching crack dealers and hookers getting processed. On the plus side it did include a rather entertaining ride in a 3.2 litre squad car going sideways round wet corners and all for the reasonable price of 30 euros, bargain!
‘Official’ photographs of sewers are sometimes fairly scarce on the net, this is especially true for London. Those found have always contained recognisable sections of well trodden locations such as the Fleet or Westbourne, nothing left to the imagination.
Theres just something i love about the sewer network of london. Like a pirate treasure trail of drains, just when you think its all over, bang new possibilities flow from the side pipes like last nights curry. X may mark the spot, but sometimes the map might not be accurate. The past few months have been somewhat of a re-sweep of London, rechecking old leads and continuing along the tunnels and sidepipes we gave up with before.
For over four years now, myself along with many others have stooped, stomped and slipped under and across london’s bowels, through sewage, grease, fat and mystery content “X”, always wondering what the next bend had to bring. Our deep fascination with the history that Victorian sewers had to offer encouraging us to brave even the most poopiest of pipes. But what happens when the sewer is less then a year old, holds no immediate constructional intrigue and has a historical value of 0. What then is left to tempt the bright eye’ d traveller into its depths?
When it comes to massive drains Niagara really takes a lot to beat. The now defunct power generating infrastructure that once littered the area has given way to a multitude of tunnels and tailraces that on their own easily justify a trip to Canada. Tonight we planned on visiting one of those tunnels. The William B. Rankine Generating Station Tailrace.
