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UER Forum > Archived Rookie Forum > Where exactly are large drains found? (Viewed 666 times)
ToadKnight 


Location: New Paltz, NY
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Where exactly are large drains found?
< on 11/9/2009 9:00 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
So, I always read about and see pictures of these awesome drains where people can actually stand up in and walk for large distances. Well, where I live, all I ever find are very small drains that I have to constantly crawl through and get all filthy, and MAYBE come across a small chamber I can stand up in. But never have I come across those large drains. Do you find them in large cities? Suburban areas? What? Do they even exist in New York (where I live)? Thanks for any help.

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micro 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 1 on 11/9/2009 9:47 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
While there are definitely some exceptions, large drains are usually found in larger cities. My guess is that your small town won't have anything, but Poughkeepsie might. Albany would be another good place to look into as well if you're willing to drive that far, but two thirds of their system is combined (sanitary & storm). The things there might not be huge, but they'll probably be large enough to stand up.

bfinan0 


Location: Rochester, NY
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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 2 on 11/9/2009 9:54 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by ToadKnight
Do they even exist in New York (where I live)? Thanks for any help.


Yes, they do, but there are far fewer of them than UER posts will make you believe. Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London seem to have a majority of the world's drains, leaving a few others for the remainder of Earth's cities. Far more often than not, drains will be as you described the ones you have experienced.

As far as finding new, unexplored large drains, the search is probably over...I would be willing to bet that every major drain in the northeast US/south central Canada has been found. I can't help you specifically for New Paltz, but try following the Hudson Friver and its tributaries, drains usually if not always empty into bodies of water.

willskith 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 3 on 11/9/2009 10:08 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by bfinan0
Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London seem to have a majority of the world's drains, leaving a few others for the remainder of Earth's cities.

This is a really biased and unsubstantiated statement. It only seems that way because those cities have much larger communities of people going into drains than most other places. I'm sure NYC has huge drains, there just arent many people there that are exploring them (or posting about it on the internet, at least)

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terapr0 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 4 on 11/9/2009 10:18 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by bfinan0
As far as finding new, unexplored large drains, the search is probably over...I would be willing to bet that every major drain in the northeast US/south central Canada has been found.


Thats not even close to true....there continue to be new discoveries (at least to the organized UER-centric UE scene)in cities like montreal, toronto, mississauga, Scarborough, rochester and countless other locales. While most of the larger systems have been explored, dont think for a second we've seen them all...

oh, and to answer your question, it seems like the bulk of the large drains are in larger cities like the ones you mentioned. Thats not to say there arent plenty of hidden gems still waiting to be seen. The best way to find large drains is to search for their outfall structures - big drains tend to have large elaborate outfalls with churn structures, small waterfalls or other features to slow the water down as it exits the drain. While drain construction varies from place to place, you can usually spot the large drains using google earth. find the large rivers and follow them upstream keeping an eye out for drain outfalls.
Of course, thats the easy part...finding and accessing the drain is often tougher than it looks from a map, but certainly the most fun and rewarding as well.
[last edit 11/9/2009 10:23 PM by terapr0 - edited 1 times]

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uLiveAndYouBurn 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 5 on 11/9/2009 10:20 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by bfinan0
As far as finding new, unexplored large drains, the search is probably over.


No, no its not.


Posted by willskith
It only seems that way because those cities have much larger communities of people going into drains than most other places. I'm sure NYC has huge drains, there just arent many people there that are exploring them (or posting about it on the internet, at least)


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Rinzler 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 6 on 11/9/2009 10:31 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
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AnAppleSnail 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 7 on 11/9/2009 10:33 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn


No, no its not.




The willskith is wise, the willskith is just.


Geocachers know of many more drains than I do. But I've found ones that no local explorers seem to know of.

OP: Colleges often have them, as they are old places that don't want ditches sitting around taking up land. Poke around on old maps for streams that aren't there anymore. Look on topo maps of urban areas to find drainage paths - Water goes downhill.

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Rinzler 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 8 on 11/9/2009 10:36 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by AnAppleSnail


Look on topo maps of urban areas to find drainage paths - Water goes downhill.



Since when?

AnAppleSnail 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 9 on 11/9/2009 10:41 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Plaid



Since when?


Since I said so - after all, CC didn't get started until just about the time I was born ;)

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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 10 on 11/10/2009 12:46 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by bfinan0


Yes, they do, but there are far fewer of them than UER posts will make you believe. Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London seem to have a majority of the world's drains, leaving a few others for the remainder of Earth's cities. Far more often than not, drains will be as you described the ones you have experienced.



Oh, man. This is quite possibly the most ridiculous draining-related post I've seen from anyone in a very long time. Where exactly do you get your ideas from?

bfinan0 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 11 on 11/10/2009 1:10 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by micro


Oh, man. This is quite possibly the most ridiculous draining-related post I've seen from anyone in a very long time. Where exactly do you get your ideas from?



Yes, they do, but there are far fewer of them than UER posts will make you believe. Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London seem to have a majority of the world's drains, leaving a few others for the remainder of Earth's cities. Far more often than not, drains will be as you described the ones you have experienced.


Sloppy editing, that's where. Those 6 cities do have if not a majority a very large proportion of drainers, and a majority of the KNOWN drains; this does not affect the fact that the vast majority of drains are small, cramped, and not in New Paltz. And I still stand by believing that the part of North America most covered by UER has been nearly completed in the search for drains.

\/adder 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 12 on 11/10/2009 1:40 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Disregard the probably 10-15 "well known" locations and CT is largely (90%?) untapped (as far as what get's posted online) this I am sure ... and CT is the third smallest state in the nation.
/do the math.
(not saying they're all great ... just saying commonly unknown.)

Another thing is most major cities in the US are built along rivers in temperate zones. We don't get major droughts like Australia so a lot of HUGE drains never dry out enough to be explored on foot.

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Mr_Fiend 


Location: Tulsa, OK
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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 13 on 11/11/2009 7:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Ok, this isnt a particularly easy question to answer, so I'm gonna give you small engineering lesson on drainage systems. It usually stems around the climate of the city, not the size of it (although the size of the city does play a role because there is a larger surface area with runoff water). Cities that are prone to flooding or can get lots of rain in a short period of time will have lots of drains. This doesnt necessarily mean they will be large. Storm sewers sizes are based on how much water flow will go through them. If there is a part of a city that floods a lot or a whole city, there are several approaches to drainage issues. 1. Retention ponds: these can be made in place of expensive storm sewer systems or simply be the location to storm sewer outfalls. 2. The city may have many small storm sewers covering the runoff of a large area. There can be several reasons behind this; smaller storm sewers are easier to build and cheaper, also take up less real estate. 3. One large, or several large storm sewers may be built in a large flood plain to drain the area quickly. Large ones are built and then the smaller ones combine into them. Also, many times old streams or creeks are turned into underground creeks (aka large storm sewers). Some of these underground creeks may be entirely underground until their outfall point at a major creek, river, or large body of water.

The best way to find large drains would be to look at flood maps, they will show you the area's most prone to flooding. Those area's will require major water mitigation, which can mean large storm drains that can handle alot of flow.

I live in Tulsa, which has one of the most advanced storm water systems in the country. It was built because the city has had several major floods, so drastic measures were taken to make sure floods do not happen. Their are many large creeks that carry runoff to the Arkansas river, as well as numorious large retention ponds all over the city. And yes, there are tons of storm sewers you can easily walk upright in. And Tulsa isnt exactly a "large" city, certainly nothing like New York and what not. But there are some pretty damn big drains here. I have been in some that go for miles, spent hours in them and they kept going. Some are 60 plus feet underground and you can drive semi's through them they are so big. I could spend weeks draining full time in this city and still find new places. The city even constructed a new out fall containing three side by side 12'x 12' storm sewers that tie into many of the other large ones in the area.

So it isnt exactly tied down to just large cities, small towns wont have large drains for obvious reasons though. Its really about how much water can accumulate in an area, then the size of the drains are based on that. Hope this helps.

Here are some examples of storm sewers in Tulsa, some of them are quite extensive and very old. There're many cities like Tulsa with large drains that arent widely known.















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WarBird69 


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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 14 on 11/11/2009 7:28 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Mr_Fiend


Here are some examples of storm sewers in Tulsa, some of them are quite extensive and very old. There're many cities like Tulsa with large drains that arent widely known.

http://i439.photob.../Misc/STP60646.jpg

http://i439.photob.../Misc/STP60621.jpg

http://i439.photob.../Misc/STP60626.jpg

http://i439.photob.../Misc/STP60654.jpg

http://i439.photob.../Misc/STP60498.jpg

http://i439.photob.../Misc/SDC12507.jpg




Those are awesome shots man, and perfectly illustrate the point not all the "large" drains are exclusive to Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London. Heck, Dayton has some large drains, yet there are very few pictures to showcase this.

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splumer 


Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Where exactly are large drains found?
<Reply # 15 on 11/12/2009 2:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by WarBird69


Those are awesome shots man, and perfectly illustrate the point not all the "large" drains are exclusive to Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Brisbane, Melbourne and London. Heck, Dayton has some large drains, yet there are very few pictures to showcase this.


I know of at least one in Cleveland (Parma, to be exact) that was a creek that was covered over. I'm sure there are more, I just haven't found them yet.

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UER Forum > Archived Rookie Forum > Where exactly are large drains found? (Viewed 666 times)



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