Sewer Searching

Hopefully you know how or have someone with you that knows about gasses in those places. A flash from a camera or almost any spark could be a problem in the wrong invironment.
Back to coins in the sewers. Maybe not a sewer but not to long ago a primary street in downtown Chicago was reconstructed. If you've ever been in Chicago you would know about Wacker Drive. There is a N, S, E and W Wacker Drive and in places 3 levels. The reconstruction took all levels completely out and rebuilt the entire thing. I was there for about 3 years of that project. On the very lowest level extensive tunneling was done for electrical work. One sharp eyed Electrician showed me a bag of coins he had been uncovering down there and he had Gold, Silver and all kinds of Copper coins in that bag. He also had bottles from the far past also from those trenchings. He told me he had approximately 10 pounds of coins at home from there so far.
The original Wacker Drive was done somewhere in the early 1920's so those coins were probably all from prior to that. He didn't want to show them to anyone just yet.
I'm sure many construction workers find coins during construction projects like that one. Really wonder what they all do with them.

I'm not great in places like that, as I would get lost in a paper bag. But I'd sure try - that sounds like a lot of fun.




I bet they do find quite a bit. Did you at least get to peek a little further at what he had in that bag?




Caves are awesome! I always have someone with me who has been in before (and so obviously found their way back out) because like I said.. I'd get lost Never found any coins, though.

I would wonder about the corrosive effects on metals. Would bronze, silver or whatever survive drain cleaners and nasties for decades... or would they truly go back to the earth from whence(?) they came?

I posted awaay back when about a 10kt gold chain I found in a copper drain pipe. It was like welded to it and quite a tug was required to free it. It still shows signs of some "encrustation". I've soaked it in many liquids that would be used to clean coins. The most sound advice I received (from someone I believe should know) was as a last resort... to use a rock tumbler, but sparingly.

Great pictures!... maybe this spring I'll post some of my own from local defunct mines (mid 1800s) that we've been, ahem, purusing.

Wow what a response!
I went through and tried to reply to as my posts and answer as many questions as I could.






Is that a type of GPS unit? If is it those typically don't work down there. If lucky maybe at a manhole shaft closer to the surface. However 99.9% of the time getting lost isn't a concern. Usually your tunnels are researched quite fully in advance before you venture in them. Also, usually there's one direction with a tunnel that's big enough to walk in (and lots of small (8" to 36") side pipes). I've only done about 30 drains in my area (I know a guy with over 500 worldwide under his belt) and so far I've only really found one with multiple tunnels, actually the first pic, upstream from there are 3 walkable tunnels merging into one and I'm sitting downstream from the merge in an overflow area. Quite an intricate one if that and one of local historical significance. Late 1800's by a notable engineer.



Who is Norton? Or did you get that from my flickr stream, one of the drains I frequent is Norton's Brooke, an old stream which was buried and encased in a tunnel.



I agree, there's gotta be some nasty stuff down there however, a big counter-point is this: Sewer treatment works don't get sick. No colds. Nothing. Due to the amount of exposure their immune systems are super-human. I've heard the same from other drainers who get underground much more than me. However we're still careful: No touching your face, no licking the walls, no licking your lips, no chewing gum, keep your mouth closed, etc.



Thank you! And yes, I've done some amateur shooting. In urbex and draining, the exploration and the thrill is half of it, but the other half is usually photographing or documenting the beauty of the place. Coming from other forums with photography snobs, I have to say I'm very impressed with many of the coin photo's by users on these forums. I've never really worked using macro subjects, but I'm quite looking forward to it.



Typically no. I haven't, but sometimes people can get permission. But for most things you just know you'll never get permission so if you ask, the owner denies you, and then you get caught there you're legally you're worse off. If you haven't asked first the law is slightly more lenient on you get caught and you're pleading stupidity. In drains I've only had one close call with the cops while exiting. In buildings/abandonments however, in my two years of this I've definitely had my close calls with the cops. In these forums I've read that some people are nervous dealing with bank tellers, but it's no where's as bad as Ann Frank'in it in the attic of some abandoned building while the cops have all the entrances surrounded for an hour. Usuall they get bored and give up -- they rarely come inside. 5 close calls for me but never caught, and not really close but quickly getting out of a situation which quickly went from good to not good. You can usually wait them out or avoid them as long as you're never to brazen while you're trespassing. Only about half of my work is on my flickr page because some I just feel I should wait out the statue of limitation before posting. And for others, for certain reasons, I probably won't post until I'm no longer working for my current employer.



Yes, and that's exactly started my interest in tunnels. My city also has an abandoned subway system, well one tunnel with some stations along the run of it. I originally heard about it from a friend, I then researched it, and it was awesome and intense the first time going in there. From there I started hitting topsides, and then after lots of research, drains.



I've only found some coins, a bill, junk, some kids toys, guard rails, road signs, a manhole cover (how the heck is it possible if they can't fit/fall down the manhole shafts?), a US historic site sign, etc. Others have found guns (probably murder weapons), etc, etc. I'm in Rochester, NY, USA and still trying to figure who who's using my main credit union branch as their dump! I only have a Nikon D70 which is OLD compared to whats out there these days. I've been meaning to upgrade to D90 or maybe even a refurbished D100 series if I have the money. Other than that a sturdy tripod which won't vibrate even while in the flow flashlights, a second or two of a 5m candlepower spotlight and a few LED puck lights. All exposures are typically at least 8-30 seconds. I never use flash unless it's friends/family. Along with all that camera gear you also typically have a headlamp, gloves, waders or boots, and water.



Along with unexpected rain while you're underground air quality is the next biggest concern of all drainers. I've never experienced it, but if you're in gas as volatile as you described, you'll already be passed out before you can even think of taking a picture. Only takes about 15-30 seconds before you're out cold. Sewer workers have passed out before they're even down the manhole ladder. HOWERVER, unusually in tunnels with good air flow, lots of openings to the street level, being very cautious there's an underground subculture worldwide of people who do this and knock on wood they have a darn good safety record. Drainers usually die from rain storms above which flood the tunnels -- "when it rains, no drains". We try not to go in 24h before and after any rain or snow melt. Typically it's the sewer workers who die from gasses as they go into much more confined spaces. Also, a majority of drainers don't do straight-up sewers and stick to mixed flow or just storm drains. There's more of a gas concern in the sewers. I totally know what you mean though. It's always in the back of your mind. Just because you and those before you have been in a basic storm drain many times before, you never know if some near by industrial company starts illegally dumping crazy chemicals in there. The drainers who regularly go into potentially dangerous environments usually carry a gas meter with them. The only problem is that sewer ones cost at least a solid $300 and need to be calibrated yearly for nearly as much as the originally purchase price. If you do your research, use your head, and don't do anything dumb you're usually ahead of the odds, but it's never guaranteed.

Wow, and that's a crazy story about that find. I have some drain friends in Montreal who've seen first hand a patched up hole in a brick tunnel where in the early-mid 1900's someone robbed a bank by using the sewers to dig into the vault.



Thanks!
I'm an East coast guy, but I hear that Minnealpois-St. Paul has crazy amounts of underground hand dug tunnels and caves to due to the amount of sandstone there. In regards to caves, I've only really done one and it was actually a mine, but from what I read mines/caves are just about as dangerous as sewers/drains.



Hehe. I've already asked on the urbex forum that I frequent if any local members have a metal detector they could lend me. In regards to getting into draining, check this out. This is basically the internally recognized manual. It was written buy a famous (in the drainer underground) drain who's since passed, but it gets mirrored all over the website. The site I gave you is that of a guy I know, well, if you think what I do is impressive, this guy is a god: http://www.sleepycity.net/approach_to_draining



In my experience and research it will depend on a few main factors. Is it a storm drain or sewer? Storm will only be ground water, but if you're in a cold climate and your municipality, you also have salt down there. If it's sewer, there's many more unknowns -- but usually it's 99% water in the tunnels that you can walk in. But you're right, who knows that chemicals, cleaners, detergents, etc are in there. Showers, washing machines, car washes, kitchen sinks, etc really dilute things. Most water you can see through and you don't see 'floater' or anything like that. The US nickel from the 80's I pulled from a storm overflow, there was no why to tell it was found in a sewer vs. normal circulation. But I estimate it was only down there for a few months because I think my companions and I would have seen it the first time. I highly question the condition of coins that have been down there much longer. But it probably depends a lot on the metal.

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Oh one other thing. A lot of people also ask me if I ever run into any hideous creature or monsters and stuff down there. No, but we did get attacked by ducks in 100% dark once with only head lamps on. That was interesting. Anyway, when asking me about monsters and stuff they often ask me if I've seen this guy:

(Pennywise from Steven King's IT)
Now that my hobbies of draining and coin collecting have crossed paths I now realize that Pennywise is about 2 decades ahead of me. He's probably the first sewer coin collector.

trent... Garret Pro-Pinpointer=Metal detector.

As for the family friendly atmosphere this forum strives to project... the, ah, cops thing may illicit response ... but, I'm into the dank earth meself (I do possess a valid prospector's license). In all the times I've crawled about, any pictures I've taken were of ore specimens, or the sweeping vistas getting there. I did a quick run through of my most recent pictures, and anything non-macrolike is very dank... almost indiscernable. Now you've got me thinking of lighting to get decent pictures in levels, stopes, caverns etc. inneresting stuff

sewers of Paris are famous, explored just like caves.

I'm guessing you could pan for coins, just like panning for gold.

Not long ago there was a special on TV about the tunneling systems under Chicago. It is amazing how many different ones there are down there. Unfortunately most have been well cleaned out after the big flood several years back. Don't know if anyone saw that but someone put a hole in the bottom of the Chicago River and it flooded the entire lower city. No coins down there now for sure.