Places Pennsylvania

Sewer crawler Tom Cross, heading down the manhole at 26th and Grays Ferry, 1982

Joe Cerrone, Inspector, Industrial Waste Unit, PWD, enters storm drain to search for source of oil spill, 1989

Sewer worker Anthony Holston enters sewer, 1990

Black and white photo of a worker with darker skin, wearing protective clothing, gloves, and a hard hat with the number 25 on the front, reaching up out of a sewer manhole, only head, shoulders, and left arm visible.

Manholes like this give access to city’s sewer system, 1961

Black and white photo of a worker with darker skin, wearing protective clothing, gloves, and a hard hat with the number 25 on the front, reaching up out of a sewer manhole, only head, shoulders, and left arm visible.

Sewer Inspections: Vintage Images

Black-and-white image of a brick sewer outlet that drains into a creek with trees and a hill behind it

Thomas Run sewer outlet at Cobbs Creek

Black and white photo of a man wearing a hat and standing on a bridge with his arm on a post

Wood truss drawbridge, Orthodox Street over Frankford Creek, 1899 [Detail]

Black and white photo showing a wooden truss bridge over a creek

Wood truss drawbridge, Orthodox Street over Frankford Creek, rebuilt 1899

Black and white photo of square archways over a bridge

Bridge Street Draw, view through bridge, July 26, 1897

Black and white image of a drawbrige partially opened with water to the left of it

Bridge Street Draw, draw partly open, July 26, 1897

Black and white photo of a drawbridge over a creek, partially opened

Bridge Street Draw with draw open, July 26, 1897

Black and white photo of a low bridge over a creek

Bridge Street Draw, July 26, 1897