Sunday, June 29, 2008

Field of Pipes


While riding past Howard Community College today, I saw an interesting collection of pipes (lower photo) in a pit next to a large building currently under construction. I later saw the sign (above photo) on the other side of the construction site announcing this as the Medical Pavilion at Howard County. The new building at the right of the photo is between HCC and Howard County General Hospital. The pit has been dug (the dirt is in the background), and the large plastic pipes nearly cover the exposed area. All the black pipes are connected on the right side. The yellow and black pipes are carefully aligned, but not yet connected (the merging of two photos creates what appears to be a bend in the pipes). The pipes have been partially covered with gravel, and the large pile of gravel toward the left of the photo suggests that the pipes will be completely covered with gravel later. The pipes are made in Winchester, Kentucky, by Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., and shipped as half-cylinders so that they can be efficiently stacked.


When I returned two days later, the pipes were almost entirely covered. I now believe that this is an elaborate drainage system (e.g., a weeping tile as suggested by BP). There appears to be a storm drain in the far right corner of the field with a concrete silo leading down to the pipes.

2 comments:

Scopes said...

Ah, a new industrial scale septic and drainage system being put in.

Craig Markwardt said...

My guesses: (1) underground storage tanks for water or fuel; or (2) the wells for a geothermal heat pump. In favor of guess #1, there is a parking structure nearby, maybe that's where they keep their fleet vehicles. Where there's a fleet, there's gasoline to fuel the fleet!