Inside the Molson Collector, somewhere beneath Rue Dickson in 2007

When it comes to Montreal’s underground achievements, the Metro system tends to get a lot of the attention. Its sewer system, on the other hand— not so much. This isn’t really all that suprising. The subway system is something people both use and see all the time, and it’s also a fair bit more complicated than a network of tunnels designed to carry fluids. Still, in terms of tunneling achievements, the sewers built during the 1950s are worth taking a closer look at if only because they’re so often ignored.

Decarie Raimbault Collector during construction in 1958.

By the time ground was broken for the first metro line in 1962, close to a decade had already passed since tunnels just as large and as long had been dug out below the surface of the island. As the populations of communities like Ville St. Laurent and Ahuntsic exploded during the post-war boom, problems began to surface beneath the ground. The existing sewer system, with pipes no larger than seven feet in diameter, could no longer handle the demands being put on it. Floods were increasing as were the number of complaints from people getting fed up with sewage spilling out into the streets and basements.

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Inside the Rockfield combined sewer overflow conduit

Picking up from where we last left off, this stretch takes us through the inside of the Cote-St-Luc collector sewer at the northern edge of Lachine. From here it snakes its way southwards towards the Lachine canal, never straying too far from the original course of Riviere St. Pierre. Approximate round-travel distance: 4 kilometers.

I never look forward to having to cover larger distances inside sewers here in Montreal. The depth will vary, but 2-3 feet tends to be the norm. That might not seem like a lot, but when you factor in the speed at which it’s flowing and the amount of gear these types of trips can entail, it doesn’t take long before it starts to feel like a solid cardiovascular workout. This is especially true when you’re walking against the flow.

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Final sewer inspection, North Collector, Montreal, 1955. (Photo source: City of Montreal Archives)

I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that manhole covers aren’t things that most people pay much attention to. I can’t blame them. I probably wouldn’t give them much thought either, but because they often play an essential role in allowing me to get inside the places I go, I find them a bit difficult to ignore. Even when visiting other cities and have no intention of going underground, I’m still looking at the covers, hoping to catch a glimpse of something unique to the area or to get an idea of where things lead. I can’t help it. It’s a curse.

So on the off-chance that anyone else is interested in these sorts of things, I decided to put together a bit of a guide for the most common ones here in Montreal. And please, no “man hole” jokes. I’ve heard them all before and only eight of them are actually funny.

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Just a quick note: I’ve been invited to cross-post the occasional  item to Spacing Magazine‘s fantastic blog about Montreal. While the posts will be identical, any comments and discussions that take place will naturally be different. For anyone interested in following such things, go visit  www.spacingmontreal.ca.

Picking up where we last left off, we eventually managed to find a safer way past the big slide where Controleman ended up taking a bit of a spill. A manhole in a relatively discreet area nearby allowed us to climb back down and continue further upstream. So without further adieu..

Standing below a bit of natural light pouring in from above a manhole shaft.

Judging by the pre-fabricated sections of reinforced concrete pipe, it looks as though this portion was constructed a bit more recently. Sometime around the 1970s, perfectly round RCP seemed to have become the standard material for sewers and storm drains in Montreal. It can make for somewhat dull underground experiences, especially when long stretches of the stuff are involved. Fortunately, this particular sewer ended up having a nice combination of other features to help break the monotony.

The visibility was fairly poor, which we’d later discover was the result of cold air blasting in through a little 6″ pipe. During the autumn and winter months, the air inside sewers stays a few degrees warmer relative to aboveground temperatures. When outside air finds a way in, it can can lead to somewhat unfavorable exploring conditions. In this case, a dense “fog” had filled the sewer. The lights of our headlamps only penetrated a few feet in front of us. Regardless, we began making our way northwards underneath Cote-St-Luc.

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Water main installation on Sherbrooke Street, 1927 (Photo source: City of Montreal Archives)

Sewer or water main construction, 1927 or 1928. (Photo source: City of Montreal Archives)

Electric cable installation, taken between 1929-1931 (Photo source: City of Montreal Archives)

I’ll be posting more of my own photos soon. In the meantime, here are three that I had scanned from the city archives that I really like, mostly for the people seen in each one.  As with most of the images on my site, clicking on each one will bring up the larger view.