Homeless in Vancouver: Another look at the sooie, ah, sewer work on Hemlock

Last night I stopped by Hemlock Street between 10th and 11th Avenue to see what the City of Vancouver Waterworks Operations workers were up to—not much at 11:30 p.m., I can tell you.

The large, custom-made wooden form that had attracted my attention two days ago was nowhere to be seen; perhaps it had already done its part to create a curved concrete joint somewhere along the underground stormwater and/or sanitary water line that workers were installing.

Even more trenchant observations

The exposed length of trench works, perhaps three metres (10 feet) deep in the southbound lane of Hemlock Street between 10th and 11th Avenue was partially filled with precast concrete pipe sections, loosely laid end-to-end.

A few of the precast pipe sections littered the street level work area; they were at least 1,350 mm (four feet) in diameter—a standard size apparently.

One of these sections, I thought, had a decidedly porcine character. Its “snout”, while obviously intended for connecting a line to an adjacent building or drain, also—I noted—made it impossible for the pipe to roll away.

Not that such a thing could ever happen but I imagine that if it ever did, it would be a real pig to deal with.