Red Devil Drain

Mission Write-Up

To find a true drain in Winnipeg is like trying to find a needle in the haystack as a majority of the city's drainage is combined waste. Then I finally found the needle one day after exams along the banks of the Red River and to my luck there were no bars to prevent me from entry. Unfortunately I didn't have any proper equipment with me so I was forced to postpone my mission until a later date.

About a week and a half later after another exam I rode the bus down to the area of the drain. The excitement of being able to drain was almost too much for me to contain and by the time I reached the outlet I was practically giddy. To my confusion there was no water near the beginning of the outlet yet the sound of rushing water was present and very near. As I stepped into the confines of the drain I immediately noticed that the floor of the pipe had been corroded to the point where water was passing beneath it. Thankfully most of the pipe wasn't rusted through so changing my socks and putting on my rubber boots wasn't difficult.

After double checking all my equipment I proceeded forward and after no more than 100 M into the drain its construction changed from corrugated steel to concrete. As my eyes continued to adjust to the ever dimming light conditions up ahead lay a section of pipe that had a dark area and at first I thought it may be a junction. I only needed to see the bottom of the steel plate to recognize that it was a hydraulic dam.

Walking further up the drain revealed two 90 degree curves bringing the drain about 100 meters further west of its river bank position. Coming out of the second corner brought a huge increase in sound that at first I assumed was traffic. However upon reaching the source of sound was it evident that the sound I had faintly heard from the entrance was actually a column of water hitting the drain from a secondary pipe.

This stream of water however presented a difficulty, I was in my good jacket and getting soaked would be the death of me while waiting for the bus. There were two options I could choose, one was to climb into a back breaker pipe that was directly across from the column. Unfortunately this pipe was two feet off the floor of the main pipe and would require me to climb up and then jump down to clear the column of water. The possibility of slipping and landing on my ass was quite evident so I began to weigh the options of "ducking" beneath the column. This would be done by leaning heavily into the side of the pipe and the only negative outcome I could think of was getting a booter so I went for it.

Putting my bag against the pipe I quickly hugged the wall and ducked beneath the column. Thankfully I didn't slip so the amount of water I received on my clothing was minimal. From here on in the pipe was straight for about 600 meters until it ended (or began depending on where you start) in a drainage ditch. Along this way were numerous beautiful ice and sediment formations both of which attracted me and forced me to take pictures of before deciding to head back.

Going back underneath the column of water had been much less successful than my previous attempt and I ended up soaking both of my legs. In addition to this, the pipe I leaned on was full of red sediment (Iron I believe) coating my jacket, pants and backpack with a red slimy compound that was not pretty. With frozen pants and dirty clothes people on the bus stared at me in a bizarre manner. Upon examining their looks at me I could only chuckle as they had no idea of what I had just done.

Picture Gallery

At the point where the water travels beneath the corroded pipe

My first ice formation

The column of water.

One of the more interesting sediment formations.

Yet another ice formation.

End of the line.