DiscoveringtheWondersofManholeCovers
UncoveringtheHistoryofManholeCovers
Manholecoversmaynotbethemostglamorousobjectsonthestreet,buttheyareanessentialpartofurbaninfrastructure.Theseheavymetallidsplacedontopofundergroundutilitylinesandsewersystemsprotectthepublicfromfallingintoopenholes,whilealsoallowingworkerstoaccessandmaintainundergroundsystems.Butmanholecoversaremorethanjustfunctionalcomponentsofthecity.Theyarealsoculturalartifactsthattellastoryaboutthehistoryandidentityofaplace.Thefirstmanholecoversappearedinthelate19thcentury.Beforethen,manholeswereusuallyconstructedwithbricksandhadtobecompletelyremovedforworkerstoaccesstheundergroundsystems.Itwasnotuntiltheinventionofcastiron,whichallowedforthecreationofcircularlidsthatcouldbeeasilylifted,thatmanholecoversbecamecommon.Theseearlymanholecoverswereoftendecoratedwithintricatedesignsorthenameofthecity,servingasasymbolofcivicpride.ExploringtheDesignandArtofManholeCovers
Manholecoversareusuallydesignedtobefunctionalanddurable,butthatdoesnotmeantheycannotalsobebeautiful.Infact,citiesaroundtheworldhaveembracedtheopportunitytoturntheseutilitarianobjectsintoworksofart.Fromgeometricpatternstoimagesofanimalsorlandmarks,manholecoversofferacanvasforartisticexpression.Somecitiestaketheirmanholecoverdesignsveryseriously.InJapan,manholecoversareoftendesignedwithlocalmotifssuchascherryblossoms,Mt.Fuji,orsamuraihelmets.Thesedesignsnotonlyaddtothevisualappealofthestreet,butalsoserveasareminderofthelocalcultureandhistory.SuchdesignshavebecomesopopularthattherearenowmanholecovertoursinJapan,wherevisitorscanexploredifferentdesignsandlearnaboutthestoriesbehindthem.ExaminingtheScienceandTechnologyofManholeCovers
Manholecoversarenotjustinterestingfromanartisticorhistoricalperspective;theyalsorequireasurprisingamountofengineeringtofunctionproperly.Manholecoversneedtobeabletowithstandtheweightoftrafficandmustbeabletobeeasilyliftedbyworkersformaintenancepurposes.Theyalsoneedtoberesistanttocorrosionandothertypesofwearandtear.Tomeettheserequirements,differentmaterialshavebeenusedformanholecoversovertheyears.Castironisstillthemostcommonmaterialused,butsteelandconcretehavealsobeenusedinsomecases.Newermaterialssuchascompositematerialsorplasticsarealsobeingexplored,astheyofferadvantagessuchaslighterweightandgreaterdurability.Inconclusion,manholecoversmayseemlikesimpleobjects,buttheyareactuallyfascinatingcultural,artistic,andengineeringartifactsworthexploring.Nexttimeyouarewalkingdownthestreet,takeacloserlookatthemanholecoversunderfoot-youmightbesurprisedatthestoriestheyhavetotell.