iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 2h

bf and I saw a pileus today on the way home!!! (and watched it get obliterated within seconds by the convecting cumulus beneath it 😭)

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 10h

how ur Teams meeting finds me btw <3

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 14h

I was way over in Cleburne yesterday for a day of floodplain management trainings, and decided while I was there to take walk :3 while there, I found a low water crossing with pipe arch CMPs (see my post on CMPs lol) which had a set of manual flooded road gates (remember, turn around don't drown!)

a vented low water crossing along Buffalo Creek with five pipe arch corrugated metal pipe culverts and riprap along the nearest bank. the road apron wall next to the riprap is visibly in disrepair, and the water generally still/ponded. in the background, a red ductile iron pipe (maybe 36") crosses the creak above the water (a wastewater aerial crossing!) and follows the creek along the opposite bank. A manhole structure can be seen behind the LWC, and more ductile iron pipe is exposed on the opposite bank just downstream of the crossing.

a head-on view of the upstream end of the LWC. debris can be seen in the culverts, and some channel erosion seems to be taking place. a trio of ducks (possibly muscovy?) stand in the ponded water upstream of the culverts.

a view along the neighborhood street before the LWC. one of the flood warning gates is on the left (a simple metal bar gate) with a bright orange sign that reads "ROAD CLOSED TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN"

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Squeezonal 13 - Wellsite #comic

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Cadence “Not A Coffee Civet” Andrysiak @supportourpoops.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Fun little automation story in a post: Figuring out why a sump level suddenly went from zero to Turn On Both Pumps At Full Speed ... a spider had spun a web over an ultrasonic level sensor head.

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slpr @sleeppoor.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

post that's been stuck in my head for decades at this point:

screenshot from tumblr user "6666666666666666699999999999999" https://www.tumblr.com/6666666666666666699999999999999/66470220605/tamp-tamp from Nov 9, 2013
text reads: "*tamp tamp*

ah i see youve noticed me tamping down the soft earth"

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

wishing you a good #maneymonday to start your week off! we're somehow already halfway through October, isn't that frightening? almost as frightening as this jack-o-lantern that's appeared in my enclosure, eek! 🎃

a maned wolf in their enclosure, standing alert and pointed towards a jack-o-lantern placed above their log shelter for enrichment. probably 3 seconds away from a hearty tamp!

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Squeezonal 12 - Flagging 2 #comic

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

structural plates can be used to make a number of round or open-bottom profiles! this creates a more natural bottom, which is better for the passage of aquatic organisms. plate CMPs also allow greater freedom in the shape of the culvert along its length, allowing it to better follow the channel!

a figure from the FHWA'S HDS-5: Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts, showing several common open-bottom culvert shapes. CMP structural plates are commonly used to make these profiles.

a photo of the underside of a structural plate CMP arch bridge! while it's clear how preserving the natural channel bottom is better for aquatic organism passage like fish, note the dry benches that run along the ends of the arch, which allow other types of wildlife to safely cross beneath the bridge!

a more complex CMP culvert created from structural plates, meant to more closely follow the natural channel meander and preserve the path of the river.

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

while circular pipe is by far the most common shape, corrugated metal pipe can come in a variety of shapes! (here's a few pics I've taken of CMPs over the years)

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I had to force my bf to pull over this morning when I saw a huge CMP used as a pedestrian tunnel! unlike smaller pipe culverts, these larger pipes are made of modular structural plates that can be fashioned into a variety of shapes! this one, for instance, is a slope-mitered horizontal ellipse!

a view from one end of the CMP tunnel, which runs through a ~8' embankment with a driveway running overtop just out of view. note the two grate inlets on either side of the asphalt path (one of which is thoroughly sedimented).

a view looking down the inside of the tunnel, standing approximately 6.5-7' tall. the bolts that hold together the structural plates can be seen running down the length of the tunnel, as is a set of overhead fluorescent lights. a thin layer of asphalt on the bottom provides a level walking surface.

a view from the other end of the tunnel on the other side of the embankment. note the two grate inlets again, this time with much less sediment and debris!

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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 09/10/2026

another year with the scariest lawn decorations in the neighborhood

3 gigantic packages of disposable wipes on the front lawn of a house.

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

went to check out some of the old rail bridges around White Rock Lake! first shown in the SoPac/Williamson Branch trestle (barely 1' below the new SoPac trail bridge!), then the former ATSF/GC&SF Overpass (over the Santa Fe trail), and lastly the still in-use KCS/CPKC bridge over White Rock Creek!

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tyreforhyre @tyreforhyre.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

*tamp tamp* ah i see youve noticed me tamping down the soft earth

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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 08/10/2026

wait was i supposed to keep me a secret

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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 07/10/2026

about that, i drew a sketch for our engineers but accidentally used a 1:1 scale, so our Big Creek Tunnel bucket is 4 miles long and holds 6 million cubic feet of popcorn

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Squeezonal 10 - PPE #comic

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

another fun thing I found out: this wasn't Minneapolis' first set of unique manhole covers! in the 1980's, the Artist Designed Manhole Covers project featured cover designs from 11 artists on 6th & 7th St. (hehehe) with the theme "entertainment in Minneapolis"

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Jads @jads-i-rutan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Pro tip for retail interactions: become big and intimidating to win

A sketched scene of two anthro red pandas raising arms to be big and intimidating at each other. One is saying, "I want to speak to your manager." The other is replying, "I AM the manager." They are in an electronics shop and other customers mill about in the background.

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

hi good maneing, happy #maneymonday! :3 looking at u with my maned wolf eyes 👀

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Squeezonal 9 - Jetting #comic

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

and for anyone else wondering, the foundry that poured the castings was a New England foundry called LeBaron Foundry! though like pretty much every other small foundry, they got bought out in the 2000's by EJ (formerly East Jordan Iron Works) 😭

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

for those interested, KB's webpage provides a great overview of the creative process with very clear photos of the intricate cover designs: katekburke.com/section/1437... the ',,,' tab in the menu leads to a wonderful 8-page retrospective of the entire project (first page shown below)!

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

as her webpage describes, there are a total of 11 designs with 75 covers originally made. one of the most fascinating parts is that since the project pre-dated personal computers/printers/digital cameras, the creative process was all done by hand (sketches, chip board carvings, and iron casting)!

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I noticed that several of the designs had "KB" or "Burke" and the year 1992, so a quick search pointed me to New England artist Kate Burke's website describing her project "Hail Minnesota"! though there were no foundry markers, other marks include her KB logo and the double-arrow Nicollet Mall logo

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I've been meaning to post about this from the FM trip, but I wound up doing a lot of reading about it so this post got a little delayed lol but one of the really neat things I saw around the Nicollet Mall were these very detailed covers of Minnesota's state flora/fauna and grains of the Midwest!

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Just Kevin @kevinleecaster.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My #Sewerdle score 5/5 An infrastructure word game via Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org ⬛️ ⬛️ ⬛️ ⬛️ 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬛️ ⬛️ ⬛️ 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬛️ ⬛️ 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟨 ⬛️ 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 New game every time sewerdle.neorsd.org

sewerdle.neorsd.org

Sewerdle

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Squeezonal 8 - Common Sense #comic

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

we're finally getting some rain (first time since early July)!!! after getting a little drizzle, I got my bf to pull over so I could snap a pic of this combo inlet that's hiding behind a little curb island. they even had a Spanish 'no dumping' marker (since the grates do the job in English lol)!

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

it's a little bit late but at least we've made it through #maneymonday! there's a cold front and lots of rain in the forecast this week, FINALLY some seasonal weather >:3

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Historical Marker Ahead @historicalmarker.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Point it up and you find me

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Hieronymus Johnson 🆖 @hieronymusjohnson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Squeezonal 4 - Wellsite #comic

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I really appreciate when designers get artsy with it and subtly remind people where stormwater often drains (like styling the vanes to look like water) shoutout to Taupō, NZ for taking this idea a step further with a decorated hinged grate that has a filter bag to keep trash for entering waterways!

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Barkitect - CONFUROR @barkitect.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Love this

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

weirder yet, some designs feature single monolithic castings that rise the full height of a typical 6" barrier curb, blurring the lines between what's actually even considered a "grate!" this was fun reading up on, some of these I've never even seen! if you got this far, thanks for listening!!! :3

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

rolled curb grates are tricky because they could be curved (concave), angular (V-type), or could feature a convex shape along the rolled curb itself (right). to me, the distinguishing feature is that they're asymmetrical to fit to the curb, whereas valley grates are symmetrical (think ditch inlets)

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

from there, I'd say it comes down to grate geometry (they all kind of do the same thing at that point lol) in my mind, concave grates have a curvature to them while valley/V-type grates are angular. valley grates could also be singular bent grates, or can consist of multiple flat grates at an angle

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

from there, there's some gray area. a drainage designer could use either bent/curved grates (left), or shortened curb hoods made for the smaller heights of mountable curbs (shown right). the curb hood types typically come with grates as well, hence the holes at the bottom for the frame mounts!

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

a "drive-over" inlet, to me, best describes the group of inlets (both grate and curb) that are designed for curb types that allow vehicles to traverse them. typical curbs are vertical/barrier curbs (A), with mountable curbs (C) being shorter, and rolled curbs (D) being sloped/rolled even smoother

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

quick point of clarification (granted, this is just my opinion since I haven't seen clear standards on the matter): these sorts of grates have a lot of names (drive-over, rolled curb, valley, concave, mountable, etc.) that seem to be used fairly interchangeably, but I think we can have some nuance!

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Arin (drain gang!) @maneybabey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

typically, a grate with a bend in it is a bad thing since they're meant to sit flush with the ground. but sometimes, like when you have something like a rolled street curb or a ditch, a drive-over valley grate inlet is just what you need! I took this pic outside the FM hotel!