Have you ever encountered lead pipes or other hasardous materials that were widely used in the past?
Yes actually! I haven't encountered lead before, but I promise you I found something very interesting! I was designing a waterline in an area where there's already some existing ones, and the goal was to tap the new waterline into the existing ones. At the top end, it taps into a big ol' 30" ductile iron pipe main. However, on the bottom, it taps into an old section of pipe made out of....
Asbestos Concrete!
No, asbestos concrete is not dangerous as a waterline material unless it breaks or gets really old, but it does requires special procedures that I had to note on the plans for the construction crews who will encounter that pipe and cut into it. I only knew it was asbestos concrete cause the old maps of the area called them out as such.
Another interesting old one i ran into was a strange one:
Orangeburg pipe!
Orangeburg pipe is made out of wood pulp and tar or pitch. It was supposed to be a cheap alternative, but because it's literally biodegradable, it's failing in almost every usage it was installed in by now. This one's usually only found in old houses where we're designing a new septic system for.
