Free Republic

Authorities say two manhole explosions in downtown Boston have forced the evacuation of two buildings, poured smoke into the streets and sent one person to the hospital with burns. The cause remains under investigation, but Deputy Fire Chief Brian Tully said at a news conference at the scene that there “may have been an overpressure situation."

At a Tuesday night city council meeting, Berkeley became the first city in America to ban the use of natural gas piping in new construction. But that was not the only utility-related issue they saw fit to attend to. No, there was another matter on deck: Eliminating the gendered connotations of words like "manhole" in the city municipal code. No longer will the streets of fair Berkeley be dotted with manholes, nary a womanhole or nonbinaryhole in sight. With Tuesday night's vote, they have all been transmuted into "maintenance holes," that highest, hardest glass manhole-cover finally shattered.

We have all seen those manhole covers in the road or even on the sidewalks.  Usually we just walk or drive over them without giving them a second thought.  About the only time we may actually put any extended amount of thought into them is when we see a utility or sewage worker climbing in or out of the hole they cover.  During heavy rain storms when the sewage tunnels are flooded you may even see water bubbling out of them. Depending where the manhole is located, sometimes the water in the sewage will build up with so much...

How does a city lose 2,500 feet of tunnels under its streets? North Miami Beach would like to know. Over a four-year period, the city contracted with a construction company to build 254 manholes -- the tunnels that run down from street level to utility pipes 8 to 10 feet below.

(04-09) 16:37 PDT SAN JOSE -- Vandals cut fiber-optic cable lines belonging to AT&T at two locations early today, knocking out phones and access to 911 emergency services to thousands of residential customers and businesses in southern Santa Clara County, in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and along the Peninsula, authorities said. Four AT&T fiber-optic cables in an underground vault were severed shortly before 1:30 a.m. along Monterey Highway north of Blossom Hill Road in south San Jose, police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said. Four more underground cables, at least two of which belong to AT&T, were cut about two...

Thousands Powerless After Manholes Explosions Traffic Detoured, Businesses Evacuated (New York - WABC, November 18, 2005) - Underground electrical fires in Morristown, N.J. Friday morning exploded manholes across the downtown area, knocking out power to thousands and prompting evacuations and traffic detours. The fires erupted in underground conduits in the Morristown Green area along Park Place, Speedwell Avenue and other streets downtown, officials said. The explosions clogged local streets and had police scrambling to set up detours. At least 2,000 customers in Morristown were without power, particularly around the Morristown Green and along South Street, according to police. Police were...