Free Republic

Mole people? Crocodile catchers? Mario brothers? A series of bizarre sightings of people popping in and out of New York City’s vast subterranean sewer system has the city wondering what exactly is going on, with police now probing the underground mystery. Some wore headlamps and carried what appeared to be shovels and other tools. One narrowly missed getting run over by a vehicle as they pulled themselves out of the ground. “They look like they were looking for something important, like money, or for doing some type of hurting,” he said. “Ain’t no fun and games. I mean, seven grown...

Several men were caught on video entering a sewer manhole in Brooklyn and then emerging from it hours later Friday morning. Now, police are trying to determine what exactly they were doing underground. snip Police said a 911 call brought officers to the scene, but the men were gone before they arrived. Later Friday afternoon, the NYPD returned to the area to investigate. Crews from the Department of Environmental Protection were also on scene. They lowered what appeared to be a camera with a light into the manhole as they inspected the sewer system. A DEP spokesperson said they are...

A second video of sewer spelunkers emerging from a Brooklyn manhole wearing headlights and carrying shovels has surfaced — but there remain no answers on what they are doing down there. One creepy new clip shows a whole cadre of men exiting from a manhole at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and Lynch Street in Williamsburg early Friday morning, according to footage obtained by Williamsburg 360. Video shows one man wearing a headlamp emerging from the ground after pushing off the cover of the manhole – which is located in the center of the intersection. [snip] Men with flashlights and...

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...