April 14, 2011
Where's Bob?
The Bell System manhole covers on campus -- like this one near the Black Engineering Building-- identify an underground system of vaults and conduits that provided phone service to the university until December 1985 when Iowa State began operating its own telecommunications system. Today, it's part of the Qwest Communications system serving residential and commercial customers in northwest Ames.
In Iowa, the Bell name became US West in 1984, when the federal government-ordered breakup of the monopoly was completed. It's not known precisely how old these campus manhole covers are, but they could date back to the 1940s.
Today, all university utilities are located underground, so the plain manhole covers around campus could be on vaults containing sanitary or storm sewers, steam tunnels, high voltage electrical lines or telecommunications systems. Photo by Bob Elbert.
