Thread: I hit a pipe!!

Sounds like a drain pipe of some sort. Stormwater or possibly sewer.

I wouldn't count on it being disused. In the past, accurate drawings weren't always kept - Dial Before You Dig (DBYD) will only show pipes if there are accurate drawings.

I work for an underground asset owner (not water) that doesn't currently have ANY of its stuff registered with DBYD. We are working to fix that but the problem is that some of it dates back several decades and the drawings either never existed, aren't accurate because they were plans for installation and not drawings of how it was actually installed (the two will differ if there was something in the way that prevented installation to plan). Or in some cases the drawings probably got lost, thrown out by mistake etc over the past 50 years.

Odds are it will be 5+ years before we've got the whole lot registered with DBYD - at present we just provide a free on-site location rather than sending out plans (that way we get to find out where it is too so can produce plans for future use).

None of our stuff is on private residential property however - it's all under the streets or on council / government land.

So I wouldn't be surprised if it's still used - you'll find out when it rains heavily.

As for asbestos, it could well be. Asbestos Cement pipes are common. Also a lot of steel pipes are wrapped with a bitumen (or coal tar) based fibrous tape to prevent corrosion. The fibre being asbestos and if it's exposed then eventually the bitumen comes off leaving only asbestos which will come off when touched / walked on. There's a lot of that around in a lot of places.

Remember though that the hazard with asbestos is inhaling the dust and not simply touching it. So wash your hands well, don't touch your body or clothes etc. Throw out any clothing that is contaminated (seriously do throw it out).

Also be aware that (I don't mean to be rude here) your private body parts are sensitive to asbestos as well as the lungs due to the skin type. So no going to the toilet etc if there's any chance of asbetos on your hands or you'll end up with cancer in a rather nasty spot. That risk isn't commonly publicised due to the embarassment factor but I'm assured it is real.

I'm not a licensed asbestos removalist though I have done the TAFE course (except the exam for the license).