SEWER INSPECTIONS:
Vintage Images
from the
Library of
Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
The following images, used to illustrate
various Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News articles
about sewer maintenance and inspections in Philadelphia, closely mirror
the sewer-walk experience described in my article, Down Under!
(see the link in the navigation bar at the the left).
Click the thumbnails to view larger images.
Thanks to PNI for allowing the use of these images here, and to Michael Panzer, PNI Library Supervisor, for helping me locate them.
All images on this page © Copyright 2008 by Philadelphia
Newspapers Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
For reprint permission contact PNI at (215) 854-2000.
The History of Philadelphia's Watersheds and Sewers
Historical Consultant
Philadelphia Water Department
Left: "Tough Jobs. Sewer worker Anthony Holston enters sewer at 2200 N. Gratz St. Fellow employees keep line on Anthony as he inspects the sewer. Dangers: sewer gas, rats, old iron ladders, cave-ins, infections..." 1990. Photograph by Sam Psoras, Daily News
Center: Norman Lofton enters manhole at Ditman and Sheffield, 1987. Photograph by Rick Bowmer, Daily News
Right: Joe Cerrone, Inspector, Industrial Waste Unit, PWD, enters storm drain to search for cource of oil spill, 1989. Photograph by Gerald S. Williams, Inquirer
Left: Sewer crawler Tom Cross, heading down the
manhole at 26th and Grays Ferry, 1982.
Photograph by Sam Psoras, Daily News
Center: "General view of sewer looking up
manhole as other Water Dept. personnel look down."
Photograph by Rick Bowmer, Daily News
Right: Inspector looking for problems in sewer. Photograph by Bob Laramie, Daily News
Left: "Sewer crawler Clarence Baskerville checks tunnel for leaks. He has faced the dangers of working in sewers for past three years." 1971. Photograph by Edward J. Freeman, Inquirer
Center and Right: "Norman Lofton inspects
sewer at Ditman and Sheffield." 1987.
Photograph by Rick Bowmer, Daily News
"Manholes like this give
access to city's sewer
system." 1961. Inquirer Magazine
Inquirer
"Today" Magazine,
January 29, 1961
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Page last modified September 18, 2008