Comments on: On the City Pattern Project: Best Manhole Cover Ever Spotted in Sugar Hill?

By: The Gay Recluse

The Gay Recluse — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:40:04 +0000

I’m with you, C! (But I still appreciate scaryreasoner’s point, because I love the debate!)

By: c.

c. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:12:41 +0000

There is no reconciliation. Beauty often entails a gamble. Ask anyone who’s spent time with a desirable man. One must take care not to turn this particular cover the wrong way — yet the exhilarating, arrow-like corners alone seem to justify the risk.

By: The Gay Recluse

The Gay Recluse — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:03:23 +0000

Thanks for that comment, scaryreasoner. Everything you say strikes us as true, except that we still think the above manhole cover may be the best ever. How to reconcile? It’s almost like a circle in a square, n’est-ce pas?

By: scaryreasoner

scaryreasoner — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:40:26 +0000

The reason manhole covers are almost always round is so that they cannot possibly fall into the hole, as there is no way you can turn it which will make it fit, even if you deliberately try. A square one like this, can fall in, as the diagonal of the hole is wider than the any of the edges of the cover, so there is a way it can be made to fit down the hole. So, because of this fault, it is only unusual, but it is not an improvement over round manhole covers.