I need to get back into the habit of writing and posting here again.  I think a combination of things diminished my motivation a little bit over the past month or so, but I can feel that changing. I just need to iron out a few more creative kinks and I’ll be back at it again.

In the meantime, another photo taken inside one of the driest stretches of sewer in Montreal. This stretch acts as an overflow between the Decarie-Raimbault and Meilleur-Atlantique collectors, though I think I’d need one of the city’s engineers to explain to me how and when sewage actually gets through its three floodgates.

What is clear is that the air inside this stretch isn’t so good. It’s only about 15 feet underground, but I guess that without a steady flow of water, good airflow can be a problem. It seemed alright during the first trip, but after we returned a few days later it was noticeably worse. My guess is that we had unleashed a good deal of noxious gasses during the first trip by walking through some particularly mucky sections.  Both manhole covers leading into this little conduit have large slots through them and are designed to allow as much air to escape as possible. A Google Street view reveals that they have ‘ventilation’ stamped into them.

For whatever reason, this one’s also full of old credit and bank cards. No gold coins or wallets or anything fancy like that. Just crummy plastic cards that are well past their expiration date.