Slowly bumping over the cracked roads of the cemetery, I squinted at my phone screen. Despite it, I'd lost my way again. But it's no matter. Somehow, all roads in the cemetery lead to the 716. Just keep driving and you're bound to see it, provided you know what to look for.
To some, the gaping double maw of musty darkness hidden away at the back of a cemetery, paradoxically reachable by any random route along its many weathered streets, might symbolize the impending inevitability of death.
To us, its sight was jubilant. It represented excitement, the wonders of the unknown, the anticipations of our vaguely-educated expectations, and most importantly a way to cool off on one of the summer's hottest days.
Stashing the jeep behind some errant trees, we collected our things and fought through the brush to gaze into the lazily flowing water which offered no secure places to step.
No doubts about it- This would be a get-wet trip. We waded into the river up to our knees, choosing a passage at random. I struck a road flare, and by its pure-red sulfrous light we descended into the darkness of the 716.
1. Flare Trail The 716 isn't so much a drain as it is an underground section of the river.
It's probably one of the largest of its kind in Rhode Island, and it's fairly well-known (it's in the DB ).
2. Down Tunnel On this side of the twin tunnels, grates open to the highway above. The other side is pitch black. At a few points, doorways in the wall connect the two.
The water ranged from ankle-deep to knee-deep. A few fish swam lazily past us and absolutely refused to have their pictures taken.
3. The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is Green A half mile later, the end was in sight.
4. Urban Jungle Outside we came... Nowhere at all. 
5. Twin Tunnels 
6. The Littlest Outfall You Ever Saw 
7. Saladking Takes a PhotoBut devestatingly, the computer gremlins ate Saladking's camera card and destroyed the filesystem, so his photos from this drain are lost forever in the digital void.
8. Split After we walked to the end, we came back for this branch heading off to the west-ish.
This branch smelled suspiciously like sewage. A short wade through a flooded RCP brought me to a junction with a 36" RCP and an old brick tunnel. The brick tunnel stank of poopoo and the air hung stagnant with dense fog.
After a short peek to make sure it didn't lead anywhere interesting, I followed my nose out of the brick tunnel and up the much fresher RCP.
9. Keep it Rolling I didn't really take any photos in this series of drainpipes, I was too busy rolling up and down the pipes like a maniac!
This was the first outing where my Sewer Gator skateboard didn't bust a wheel or bushing, and crawling through all these pipes without it would've been much less fun.
After a couple of junctions (a linear path with no forks) I ended up in a large chamber with little pipes pouring in from all sides. One of these was big enough to roll through, but I left it for next time and rolled back to the main tunnel.
Maybe we don't have the world's best drains around here, but we love the ones we've got.
Hope you enjoyed, Students of Subterranean Hydrology!
God, this forum has gotten awfully slow, huh?
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