Any Port in a Storm - Utility covers & grates

« Utility covers & grates »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 19, 2013, 10:43am

Any Port in a Storm :: On the Plaza :: Image Bank :: Utility covers & grates

Page 1 of 7 » Jump to page Go

Author

Topic: Utility covers & grates (Read 6,478 times)

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Utility covers & grates
« Thread Started on Dec 5, 2009, 1:47am »

« Last Edit: Sept 8, 2011, 11:29pm by Wizard »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #1 on Dec 5, 2009, 2:37am »

Ohhhh ~~ These are wonderful! I absolutely love that you took them as-is, too, without brushing off the grit or anything. They're really rich pictures.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bjd
member is online

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 3,982
Location: South-West France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #2 on Dec 5, 2009, 1:14pm »

Interesting. Last year I discovered a friend of a friend collected pictures of manhole covers. I took some for him but didn't keep the copies.

Ah, I just found one from Berlin.
[image]

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #3 on Dec 5, 2009, 1:26pm »

Oh,that one's a beaut. I wonder do they have the same problem we have here with people stealing them as "souvenirs".(The 3rd one in the pics being the collectible). It is cleverly reproduced onto everything imaginable from t-shirts to clocks if you're into that sort of thing.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bjd
member is online

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 3,982
Location: South-West France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #4 on Dec 5, 2009, 2:59pm »

I googled "stealing manhole covers" -- it seems that it's mostly for the scrap iron rather than for artistic appreciation. It seems to happen a lot in the States, but maybe that's because I googled in English. No idea how to say that in German.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #5 on Dec 6, 2009, 4:18am »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #6 on Dec 6, 2009, 4:21pm »

Great picture, Bjd!
It's funny about Casimira's pictures, since I used to live where she does. I've seen those metal covers a thousand times without really looking at them or thinking about them. (Except for the water meter one, which everyone loves.) But looking at them here, especially teamed with a foreign (to me) cover, raises all kinds of interesting questions. For instance, in what era were they designed? The Berlin cover has a hopeful, futuristic look -- the 30s? The first picture in the series looks as though more thought were given to making it non-skid. Every one of them has a professionally designed look, making you wonder how the artist was found, what was his/her "real" job, etc.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bjd
member is online

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 3,982
Location: South-West France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #7 on Dec 6, 2009, 5:32pm »

No, the Berlin one must be much more recent. The TV tower in the centre was built during the East German period. Rikita would know the exact time, but I think it was the late 1960s or early 1970s. And as I look more closely, it looks as though that is Norman Foster's dome on the Reichstag building, just to the left of the TV tower. So very much more recent.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #8 on Dec 10, 2009, 4:08pm »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #9 on Dec 10, 2009, 4:44pm »

Ohhhhh -- pretty!

Boy, did that bring back a regional "word" -- "Did you get your nopsi bill yet?"

(New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated)

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

imec
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: May 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 5,379
Location: Winnipeg

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #10 on Dec 10, 2009, 9:36pm »

Not sure how I missed this thread (although I've done that a few times lately ::)

). These are great!

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

fumobici
member is offline

[avatar]

<><><><><>

Joined: Aug 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 2,098

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #11 on Dec 11, 2009, 6:19am »

Nice thread idea. I have no pictures to add but nominate Rome's SPQR manhole covers as having the most venerable branding.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

http://scrimshaw-globes.com

imec
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: May 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 5,379
Location: Winnipeg

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #12 on Dec 11, 2009, 8:19pm »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

imec
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: May 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 5,379
Location: Winnipeg

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #13 on Dec 11, 2009, 8:25pm »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

imec
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: May 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 5,379
Location: Winnipeg

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #14 on Dec 11, 2009, 8:33pm »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

fumobici
member is offline

[avatar]

<><><><><>

Joined: Aug 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 2,098

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #15 on Dec 11, 2009, 9:07pm »

That last one with the congruent waveforms is fantastic.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

http://scrimshaw-globes.com

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #16 on Dec 12, 2009, 12:09pm »

Good eye there Imec! And nice to know my mind's eye not the only one" in the gutter "so to speak

. Most of the time my head is in the clouds but,occasionally I do check things out on the ground ::)

.
Great pics. Do love the wavy one a bunch.
I remember I took a lot of these in NYC but can't find now! :-/

« Last Edit: Dec 12, 2009, 12:12pm by casimira »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Don Cuevas
member is offline

[avatar]

My name really isn't Don, but I used to be anónimo.

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 2,941
Location: Michoacán, México

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #17 on Dec 12, 2009, 1:48pm »

Here's one from Mexico City's Colonia Roma.
(It's been "posterized" in PhotoShop Elements.)

[image]

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Panza llena, corazón contento.
http://mexkitchen.blogspot.com/

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #18 on Dec 12, 2009, 2:07pm »

It's impossible not to love that wavy cover, Imec, but they're all wonderful. I am quite drawn to the minimalist #3, as well.

Casimira, I think they have those oval ones in N.O., too, don't they? I believe that's where they turn off the water with that big wrench.

Very nice, Don Cuevas! Any idea what the first D is for? (

D. Distrito Federal [federal district, analogous to the DC in Washington DC]
Cuauhtemoc municipal region
road works
feathered crown [picture]

And then there's the trademark Mexican touch of a raised loop, so there will be something to trip over!

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

kerouac2
helper

member is online

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 34,431
Location: Paris, France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #19 on Dec 12, 2009, 9:19pm »

I have seen many splendid manhole covers in France, so I was surprised to notice... not much of interest when I went to take a look at the various items in my neighborhood.

I think that one of the reasons is because Paris has such a gigantic underground network that most of the subterranean entrances are big retangular plaques with built-in stairs.

In my memory, however, these plaques are supposed to be massive round ones with "Pont-à-Mousson" imprinted on them.

[image]

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lola
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 4,271
Location: USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #20 on Dec 12, 2009, 10:28pm »

Very nice, all. Chicago has especially good ones. We need a correspondent there.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #21 on Dec 13, 2009, 2:15am »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

imec
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: May 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 5,379
Location: Winnipeg

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #22 on Dec 13, 2009, 7:38pm »

I love this one casimira.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

lola
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 4,271
Location: USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #23 on Dec 13, 2009, 10:01pm »

and even better cause it's wet.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

kerouac2
helper

member is online

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 34,431
Location: Paris, France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #24 on Dec 13, 2009, 10:14pm »

I was intrigued looking at the Paris ones (many of which I did not photograph) by how many different designs there were. I suppose that this is to assist the various companies in finding "their" installations and not so much for just making pretty.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #25 on Dec 14, 2009, 12:55am »

The middle one in the Paris series is extremely nice, and the small one on the bottom left is downright pretty. I guess part of the purpose of the designs would be to make the covers less slippery.

Casimira, your wet t-shirt cover is beatiful. You really have a knack for capturing water and wetness.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

bixaorellana
helper

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female

Posts: 25,288
Location: Mexico

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #26 on Dec 14, 2009, 12:57am »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

kerouac2
helper

member is online

[avatar]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 34,431
Location: Paris, France

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #27 on Dec 14, 2009, 6:20am »

I prefer to think that it is a good sign when these things do not look like they've been opened for a long time -- it means that everything is working properly, right?

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

casimira
member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female

Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA

Re: Man Hole Covers
« Reply #28 on Dec 14, 2009, 11:48am »

Dec 14, 2009, 6:20am, kerouac2 wrote:

I prefer to think that it is a good sign when these things do not look like they've been opened for a long time -- it means that everything is working properly, right?

Most of the ones I photographed are in my immediate neighborhood,heavily populated,recent street overhaul. Am now curious about other less inhabited,perhaps still ravished areas. Will check out. As for our neighbors in Mexico,we have always joked about the "OSHA moments,"Occupational Safety and Health Administration,one experiences throughout that lovely country.I guess this is as good a time as any to introduce the concept.

(The people in my neighborhood have begun asking questions,there goes that lady who points her camera up at the sky or down on the ground