Fueled by record high prices, thieves from Chevy Chase, Maryland to Mumbai, India are causing headaches for authorities by stealing copper wires, aluminum bleachers, and iron manhole covers. Meanwhile, in Detroit, the problem of metal theft has driven energy company executives to confront directly those who would cut down copper wiring to sell at a profit. The trend could transform our cities, and also perhaps our architecture.
The Curious Case of Washington’s Exploding Manholes
A commenter recently pointed out I neglected to mention manhole explosions in my previous post on the manhole covers of Washington, D.C. While I came across reports of these explosions in my research, I dismissed them as isolated incidents. It appears I was wrong. As explained by the website Howstuffworks, manhole cover explosions are caused […]
An Introduction to the Manhole Covers of Washington, D.C.
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about manhole covers recently. I was reminded of the topic at a recent lecture by Dr. Timothy Beatly during a lecture about urban placemaking. He was speaking about ways European and Australian cities create distinctive urban environments. European cities, generally much denser and with higher foot traffic […]