An underground guide to sewers, or, Down, through & out in Paris, London, New York, &c. Cover Image

Book

An underground guide to sewers, or, Down, through & out in Paris, London, New York, &c. / Stephen Halliday ; foreword by Peter Bazalgette.

Summary:

"Lose yourself in the vast sewer networks that lie beneath the world's great cities - past and present. Let detailed archival plans, maps and photographs guide you through these subterranean labyrinths - previously accessible only to their builders, engineers and, perhaps, the odd rogue explorer. This execrable exploration traces the evolution of waste management from the ingenious infrastructures of the ancient world to the seeping cesspits and festering open sewers of the medieval period. It investigates and celebrates the work of the civil engineers whose pioneering integrated sewer systems brought to a close the devastating cholera epidemics of the mid-19th century and continue to serve a vastly increased population today. And let's not forget those giant fatbergs clogging our underground arteries, or the storm-surge superstructures of tomorrow."--Cover.

Record details

ISBN: 9780262043342
ISBN: 0262043343
Physical Description: 255 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Publisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2019]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (page 252) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Pioneers of plumbing. Sanitation in the ancient world ; Sewage in the streets -- Subterranean infrastructures. The cleansing of Paris ; London & the great stink ; Worldwide adaptations ; Raising streets -- Revolutions of purity. Processing & treating sewage ; The future of waste treatment.