Paris Sewers and Fiber Deployment > It's just one more thing

said by claudeo:

Unlike many other cities, especially in North America, the core of Paris has a very extensive sewer system built as interconnected tunnels that run below just about every street. You can walk along those tunnels on a raised sidewalk, without stepping in the flow of sewage unless you need to get into a branch that goes to a building. The sewer tunnels have been used to install all kinds of utilities that were not initially part of the plan, such as steam, gas, electricity, "pneumatic" tubes to shoot letters across town, telephone and now fiber, all out of sight. Contrast that with American cities, especially in the West or outside the core city center, where each utility digs a separate trench then fills it up, starting an endless cycle of expensive digging and resurfacing. To save money, wherever possible lines are tacked onto the face of buildings or strung on poles rather than buried...