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 Chris Hansen
I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. Why dont you have a seat over there?
 |  |  |  | useful way to find drains
< on 8/16/2008 2:35 AM >
|  | | | i found out that in my city all of the 'big' storm drains run off into a central river and along this river are bike/walking paths so ive found that a good way to find a drain is to follow a bike path. here are some pics of the sky view of what my cities storm drain run off river looks like. the pink is an outline of the river
My name is Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator. Why don't you have a seat over there? |
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trent
      
I'm Trent! Get Bent!
Location: Drainwhale hunting
Gender: Male
Not on UER anymore.
| | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 1 on 8/16/2008 2:40 AM >
| | | | Sweet man. Biking down a river is always a great way to find outfall. Now you gotta get in them. Take a camera. We'd love to see them.
He who rules the underground, rules the city above.
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Chris Hansen
I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. Why dont you have a seat over there?
| | | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 2 on 8/16/2008 2:43 AM >
| | | | yeah i definitely will! ive been in em before but i didnt have a camera
My name is Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator. Why don't you have a seat over there? |
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Spaceman Spiff
Location: Salem, OR and Evergreen, CO
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 4 on 9/12/2008 5:41 AM >
| | | | I've found quite a few drains this way too, especially along the S. Platte river in Denver. I found a couple just before leaving for college, but didn't have time to explore them before I drove out.
And of course, Google Earth isn't a bad way to find in/outfalls, especially in combination with city stormwater utility maps.
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Crumpet
Location: Brisbane, AUS
Gender: Male
You know you're in Brisbane when...
| | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 5 on 9/12/2008 10:09 PM >
| | | | I'm lucky that my city has pretty thorough bikeways/walkways along the stretch of the river.
I've spotted a couple of interesting-looking ones, including one outfall where the council's built a huge steel platform over the top of one outfall RCP. Attached to the struts of the platform is a sign - "OUTFALL. DO NOT ENTER." or some such. Well, thanks for the advertisement.
- Crumpet (http://www.urbanillusions.org)
[from micro's "drainer rules"] 3rd RULE: If someone says "rain" or "thunderstorm", the draining is over. |
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veiledexplorer
Location: Virginia & Georgia
Gender: Female
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 6 on 10/21/2008 9:52 PM >
| | | | This in general is true, however I've noticed that most drains in my area have grates over their openings. Very cool and good advice though!
"Only when things are abandoned and start to fade away do most see the beauty in what they have made." ~me |
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AnAppleSnail
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| | | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 7 on 10/21/2008 10:15 PM >
| | | | Posted by veiledexplorer
This in general is true, however I've noticed that most drains in my area have grates over their openings. Very cool and good advice though!
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I feel like grates are advertisement, especially if it can be 'persuaded' open. You'd be surprised how much freedom of motion remains even when it's "locked." Last but not least, it's nice to know that you aren't likely to find hobos in that drain. I'll use one of my own experiences as an example for another entry strategy.
There's a mall here that used to flood, I know people who have canoed through it. Now it doesn't flood like that, so clearly they installed drains after rebuilding post-flood. I set out along the creek side of the mall, noting several 30" steel pipes coming out over the creek. As I crept along the steep wooded bank out of sight of the traffic and parking deck, I spotted an angled concrete wall ahead! Prime outfall indicator, a hillside-stabilizing thingy. It's a pair of 3' high corrugated-metal pipes, going back about 15' to a junction and continuing as a single 5' RCP. But I don't know how extensive it is, and I'd hate to dig my way through thick mud for a tiny shrinker. So I went up to the pavement above the outfall and looked for grates.
I guess it's a strategy of marking in your head where you know it is, and looking for places where it could be, then seeing if there's pipe there. Go to grates you see and see how deep they are; mid-road grates tend to go straight down to junction rooms instead of hitting a sub-box first. I tracked it to a split 20 yards from the creek, and going under the mall building as two separate pipes. Two of these small (liftable!) grates had ladders going down to the water surface, and are possible entry points.
Obviously I can't casually lift grates in a mall parking road, but it's the principle of the thing, right? There's a thread around here talking about the mechanics of opening a supposedly-locked grate without leaving evidence and without damaging it. Take a mechanical look at it, see what can be done to get through anyway. Good luck!
Achievement Unlocked
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Mark
 
Very Noble Donor
Location: South Carolina
Gender: Male
What is a lion, king of the savannah, when hes at the south pole?
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 8 on 10/24/2008 7:12 AM >
| | | | Your shots of the sat images are always a great way to find drains. If it rains the water goes someplace, be it a lake, river, or just some odd tree growth cutting through a city, you should find water.
"If the threat level goes up its probably because of me." "I am looking for a girl who enjoys headbutting beltbuckles" |
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Dick Winter
Location: Richmond
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 9 on 1/12/2009 3:24 AM >
| | | | i've been able to get maps of the entire drain systems of cites (Charlottesville and Richmond) just by asking. go to the city's website and find the GIS information. then i just emailed them and asked for GIS maps of the drain system. it was absurdly easy. i have found however, that the maps are incredibly hard to understand. but its better than nothing.
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Chris Hansen
I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. Why dont you have a seat over there?
| | | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 10 on 1/12/2009 10:14 PM >
| | | | Posted by Dick Winter
i've been able to get maps of the entire drain systems of cites (Charlottesville and Richmond) just by asking. go to the city's website and find the GIS information. then i just emailed them and asked for GIS maps of the drain system. it was absurdly easy. i have found however, that the maps are incredibly hard to understand. but its better than nothing.
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are you saying the city gave you a map of the cities drainage system?
My name is Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator. Why don't you have a seat over there? |
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Dick Winter
Location: Richmond
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 11 on 1/12/2009 11:13 PM >
| | | | exactly that
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bfinan0
Location: Rochester, NY
Gender: Male
| | | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 12 on 1/13/2009 1:46 AM >
| | | | Posted by sheldontheflamingcat
are you saying the city gave you a map of the cities drainage system?
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I could believe it, I found a local drain map of my area framed on a wall in the library. Only problem: none of the drains on it are any wider than 24 inches, and the vast majority are 8" pipes.
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Dick Winter
Location: Richmond
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 13 on 1/13/2009 1:51 AM >
| | | | Posted by bfinan0
I could believe it, I found a local drain map of my area framed on a wall in the library. Only problem: none of the drains on it are any wider than 24 inches, and the vast majority are 8" pipes.
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yeah, there aren't really any good drains where i live, and the map I've got is very hard to understand. it was really funny though, how i got them. the first time, i made up a story about how i needed them for a class, and that worked great. then, i emailed Richmond, and just said "could you send me a pdf map of your drains?", and it worked perfectly.
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Lilardo
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 14 on 2/12/2009 12:43 AM >
|  | | | Yeah, e-mail the records department of your city and ask for a map of drainage systems. They send them, pretty much no questions asked. They are a but confusing and hard to read, but once you get the hang of them, maps make finding drains too easy!
I'm a CEO. |
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g.o.s.t.
Gender: Male
Going Out Seeking Truth
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 15 on 5/30/2009 4:17 AM >
| | | | Unfortunately I live in a suburbian area with few rivers, all of our drains empty into retention ponds and there are so many ponds that the drains rarely get bigger than twelve inches.
We do have an old abandoned canal from the 1800's but I've walked a good 12 to 15 miles of it with little success of finding any drains bigger than a few inches and most of the canal is on or near property of big oil companies and the whole thing runes along an active canal so smile your on candid camera.
We are mole people! |
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Yellowcake-1480
Location: Edmonton
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 16 on 9/7/2009 5:44 PM >
| | | | It helps every now and then to be in a motor vehicle of some sort.I have found quite a few decent drains on foot,but I have found drains by taking the bus where they are hard to spot from land.A few drains have even been in the paper by chance in my area.
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DrainMunkey
Location: South St Paul
Gender: Male
i'd rather be exploring...
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 17 on 10/23/2009 5:08 AM >
| | | | Posted by Dick Winter
i've been able to get maps of the entire drain systems of cites (Charlottesville and Richmond) just by asking. go to the city's website and find the GIS information. then i just emailed them and asked for GIS maps of the drain system. it was absurdly easy. i have found however, that the maps are incredibly hard to understand. but its better than nothing.
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I have tried to get maps from some of the local suburbs around the cities and have been denied by almost all of them no matter if I say I need it for school or not... (I have already done the walking thing...I just would like other entrance points and there path underground)
is there any other places you can think of to get the maps from?
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RailGuy88
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Where you're not...
Gender: Male
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 18 on 10/23/2009 6:32 AM >
| | | | All major libraries have special map rooms. Although they won't allow you to check them out (borrow them outside the building), they will allow you to view them or make photo copies.
Our library here in San Jose has a room called the California Room. It contains hoards of information regarding drainage and tunnel systems, street maps dating back to the early 1800's, and so much more.
I'd try there first and see what you come up with. -- It's usually libraries within major cities, such as San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Portland, etc...
Good luck!
Going where others can't... |
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DrainMunkey
Location: South St Paul
Gender: Male
i'd rather be exploring...
| | Re: useful way to find drains
<Reply # 19 on 10/24/2009 12:32 AM >
| | | | Posted by RailGuy88
I'd try there first and see what you come up with. -- It's usually libraries within major cities, such as San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Portland, etc...
Good luck!
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Okie...ill check out some of the bigger libraries instead of the suburbs ones....maybe I will get lucky and they will have some for the suburbs as well...and maybe I can get lucky...hmm...maybe I'll try the historical society...
Thanks!
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