MANHOLE COVERS OF MOSCOW

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, two events occured that became turning point for manhole production. First, the People's Commissariats were renamed Ministries in 1946, prompting acronyms to change accordingly, including those on the covers. Second, in April 1947 the first unification document, GOST 3634-47 "Cast-iron covers for inspection manholes", was adopted, designed to regulate structure, composition and by certain degree, appearance of manholes. According to it, the name/logo of the manufacturer was to be indicated on the upper side, accompanied by the name of the GOST itself. At the very center, abbreviation for communications type was to be present: "ГВ" (GW, water supply), "ГК" (GK, domestic sewer), "ВД" (VD, urban drain) and "ПГ" (PG, fire hydrant). Also, all manhole covers had to become flat. But the GOST established requirements only on the form and size, while design still remained at the manufacturer's discretion.
Since the difference is only two years, definitions of "pre-war" and "pre-GOST" manholes can be considered synonymous. Below are two blueprints for the GOST 3634-47, depicting standard cover layout and special design for hydrants, with much larger "ПГ" letters at the center.



The telephone networks hadn't been touched yet (they created a separate GOST for them in ten years), but all other types adopted the GOST and became flat. Some producers ignored even those subtle standards (e.g. continued to issue bulging covers or compartment-plates instead of flat-form), but most of them complied. In the 1950's, most of the Soviet manhole covers held their quality and some could be considered as eloquent as their contemporary foreign counterparts. Only after the succession of newer standards was forced upon them, the covers began to yield to tasteless uniformity. But they still had some expression even after the introduction of a new, more stringent GOST 3634-61, which gradually brought all traces of industrial design deviations to naught. The general decline in quality of Soviet production didn't help either.

Unfortunately, in Moscow for all types of communications - sewer, water supply, drains, as well as electricity, there were introduced special standards of appearance, not completely coinciding with the GOST applied in the rest of the country. The most important disadvantage is that Moscow covers of 1950's do not specify a manufacturer and their nameless visage had spread everywhere.

Standard Moscow Sewer (1950's - 1962)

As we know, the "compartment-plate" cover design was the telltale sign of metropolitan sewers since the very first project created in 1898. But when in the year 1947 the first GOST appeared, all the sewer network covers lost their recesses and new flat shape had to be filled with some design. In Moscow, a unified design with a radial-circular ("spider-web" pattern) was used, while in the center the invariable letters "GK" remained. They can be divided into many subspecies, differing by small details of design (made by different foundries), but these microscopic trifles are not worth any attention.
This approach led to overwhelming monotony. The post-war sewer covers, as in the early XX century, remained the most frequently laid and are still very common in the city. This design was changed after the next GOST was issued in 1962.

Examples of Moscow-specific sewer manholes:

Standard Moscow Water Supply (1950's - 1962)

The urban water supply also had standard pattern in the 1950's, but in contrast to the sewer, it was not a "web" design but a square grid. This was possibly constructive reference and extension both to the usual pre-War manhole patterns and the conventional cover design by the actual GOST 3634-47. There is neither manufacturer's name nor any other information other than "ГВ" marking indicating the system. The cover is found in corresponding districts and is still common in Moscow.

Standard Moscow Storm Drain (1950's - 1962)

The post-war covers of the Moscow street drain network were another step in the evolutionary chain of their predecessors, retaining some design elements straight from tsarist times. As we remember, in the 30's it was decided to write the words "Urban Drain" along the contour of a "compartment-plate" cover. After that, the inscription changed and turned into the word "Drain" twice repeated, which could have happened either before the war or immediately after. But the covers still remained four-sectioned for a time being, a period which couldn't simply last very long, because after the inauguration of the first GOST in 1947, all manhole covers became flat, drain covers included.
A simple drawing was introduced to the newly-flat center section and these new hatches have been installed extensively until the new GOST was issued in 1962, which had the "drain" inscription replaced by the abbreviation "VD". Thus, the bulk of these hatches fit into the period between the late 1940's and the early 60's, occurring most often among the buildings of these years, usually near intersections, along avenues and tram lines. For example, the covers were found by a metro station built in 1962 and even on a street constructed in 1964. Occasionally penetrated into the suburbs as well.

1. The double-name drain still in compartment-plate form and in square clip, on the very Red Square. This type is beyond rare, possibly installed just after the war. In any case, before 1947.
2. Similar arrangement in Yauzskie Vorota square.
3. Most of flat drain covers lie in rounded clips. This is the most usual design used during the years.
4. Rare variation with different script and only one word. See its underside here.

Telephone Covers after 1953

With the advent of the post-Stalinist era in the early 1950's, there was a change in appearance of all the Soviet telephone network covers. The old insignia with the star-frame, Bell's wand receiver and lightning bolts, used since 1901 and served more than half a century (first under Imperial Russia, then under the Soviet government), was sent into retirement. Its latest rendition signed by the Ministry of Commuications ("MC phone"), introduced in 1946, existed only for seven years.

First of all, in 1953 the temporary technical conditions were introduced, named VTU 222-53. As the name implies, they had to act until the development of the first full-fledged GOST was completed. All subsequent covers of the telephone network had been cast according to these VTU (there were exceptions, but rare) - so they were already prepared for the upcoming GOST 8591-57 ("Telephone cable canalization manholes") which came out in 1958 and didn't actually add to the design recently established. Unfortunately, date of issue and manufacturer info remained inside the cover and thus unavailable for observing without flipping the cover.

1. Here is the usual design: the letters "ГТС" are spaced in an arc around the center, decorated with concentric circles and a sunray contour. This is definitely the most common type on the former Soviet Union territory and can be seen absolutely anywhere thanks to rapid installation of new telephone lines, starting from mid 1950's and further into the 1970's. Many covers were produced in large quantities by certain foundries - such as the good old Plant №11 in Akhtyrka and the Tuapse Machine-Building Plant - then transported through the country. Others were made in places by smaller factories, adding some local flavor and slight design variations.
2. A nameplate on the backside of one cover with such design: according to the text this particular hatch was cast in 1957, under VTU 222-53, by the plant "mailbox 11" of the Ministry of Communications.
3. The backside of a cover issued in 1959 by the Plant №11 in Akhtyrka, already under GOST 8591-57.
4. The backside of a cover issued in 1960 by the Tuapse Machine-Building Plant (with its logo above).

Examples of more uncommon covers made according to the GOST 8591-57, i.e after 1953 and before 1978.

The new GOST 8591-76 was issued on January 1, 1978 and is formally still in use (though gave way in late 90's). According to its design, the arc-shape arrangement of "ГТС" letters was retired in favor of straight central composition of the letters, as seen below. The sunflower shape mostly survived the transition.

1. The standard telephone design of 1976, pictured above, is extremely uncommon in Moscow, because our "Vodopribor" plant, an overwhelming manhole monopolist by that time, crafted another type of cover design - the hexagonal mesh. It is very common in every environment in Moscow and Moscow Oblast, installed massively during the 1980's and 1990's and replacing older covers as well. It was also used by several other manufacturers, though not as actively as in Moscow. The underside looks like this.
2. The inverted mesh cover had been made by one of the Mosscow plants in the mid-90's.
3. There are kind of covers marked "3M", either with a date (1963) or without.
4. A rare cover with the inscription "T-MES" was found in different places in Moscow. The letter "T" may mean "telephone", and "MES" may be related to electricity (for example, the Moscow Electric Network). This curious cover falls to somewhere of late 1950's or early 60's, confirmed by several minute distinctions characteristic of the era.

Some of the current phone covers.

Mosenergo Electric Networks (1930's - 1950's)

The first alternating current station (now GES-1) was built in Moscow in 1897. Plans for mass electrification of the country have been developed since before the revolution but were put into action under the first years of Soviet rule. In 1920 the GOELRO plan, made under the supervision of Lenin himself, was inaugurated. The MOGES department was created shortly, since 1932 renamed Mosenergo, which operated electric supply in Moscow (later, also heating networks). The cables were laid under the hatches inscribed with "MKS" (or "UMKS") Mosenergo".
According to Central Archives, "MKS" stands for Moscow Cable Network - name used in 1930-1951 and after 1956, while "UMKS" possibly means brief subject change to Moscow Cable Network Department (1952-1955). Since 1956, UMKS was reassigned to the Moscow City Council, and had its name reverted back into MKS.
The Mosenergo covers are variable, with many notable differences in script and patterns and even the size itself, probably indicating numerous foundries that made them, or different years. Later MKS covers are usually bigger.

MKS and UMKS covers that are bigger, with inner circle enlarged. They all come from the late 1950's.

1-2. Then there is another type of energy network, called the VKS Cable. This stands for Mosenergo's High-Voltage Network (VKS). A special department was created in 1935, followed by construction of the first experimental 110 kV cable mainline. In October 1942, the first oil-filled mainline was commissioned and deemed successful, so others were scheduled promptly. Nowadays more than 900 km of cable lines lay in the VKS area of operation with voltage 110-500 kV, connecting more than 150 substations and power stations. The hatches are usually located in various key points, biggest avenues and crossroads, where the underground channels are expected to be. The cover is quite large and nearly identical to later MKS manholes.
3-4. And this one is even greater. Found around the territory of the Moscow University (MSU) on Vorobyovy Gory, there are several covers labeled "CABLES", installed in the early 50's when the site was being developed. Their size is truly enormous - the largest ever found in the city. According to context, they serve to hide massive clusters of electric systems.

Moscow Gas Supply

The history of gas supply of Moscow began in January 1865, when the contract was signed with Anglo-Dutch entrepreneurs, who received monopoly on lighting Moscow with luminous gas for 30 years. The construction of a gas plant was completed in a year (long out of service, it's now converted into an art cluster). The second most important date was the launch of a country's first gas mainline from Saratov in 1946. Shortly, new pipelines were built and mass gasification began, town after town. Gas networks were laid and new type of manholes came into existence, similar in design to then-current covers of water supply and sewers, marked "MG" ("МГ"), either regular or small-sized. They eventually gave way to newer types.

Smaller inspection handholes (actually called "cover" in Russian), known since the 1970's, replaced the previous design and are used to this day, so they are much more common. They are made with a hinge according to special technical regulations. The newest ones are frequently made with central hand-grip instead of a hinge.

Various covers made during the GOST 3634-47 years of operation (1947-1962)

YaRMZ (Yaroslavl Mechanical Plant)

Covers marked as YaRMZ ("ЯРМЗ") has come from the "Yaroslavl Mechanical & Repair Plant". First convex covers are known from the early 1950's, not following the regulations of GOST-47 despite being made during its period of operation. Only in the latest years, the covers finally yielded to standards. The plant was subjected to the "Transvodstroy" trust ("ТСВ"), hence the monogram which always accompanies its name. This trust of the Ministry of Railways was engaged in waterworks and sewer construction on transport facilities - i.e. mostly railroads. And the plant in Yaroslavl made manholes for them.

1. A regular-size cover, reasonably convex, radius - 6 blocks, diameter - 54 cm. The logo is placed inside a pressed rectangle 4х4 blocks-wide. It seems this type was used in the early 1950's.
2. Then they switched to enlarged size sometime in 1953-54. Radius - 8 blocks, diameter - 74 cm, logo now convex.
4. A variant with the "ТСВ" signature only. Possibly used for telephone.
5. A GOST-based design was finally implemented but used very briefly, during 1961-62, before the GOST changed.

"ЯТТМ". Modern cover created in 1988 by "YaTTM" plant - the successor of YaRMZ (renamed in 1973-74).

"Завод им. Ворошилова". Made in 1950's by Mechanical plant named after K.E.Voroshilov, in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Before the revolution, it was a large foundry owned by F. V. Nitner. Artifacts of their casting can still be found around. Since about the 1920's it adopted the name of Commissar and Marshal Voroshilov. The plant was closed after the collapse of the USSR, its historic territory on Suvorova Street became site for multi-store buildings.

"МАП з-д п/я 41". Made by a rather enigmatic plant addressed only as the "mailbox 41", subjected to MAP - the Ministry of Aviation Industry. Mid 1950's. Often found among the housing blocks built for the Ministries of Defence or Aviation staff.

"ВМЗ 4 МВМС". VMZ 4 MVMS: this stands for the "Military mechanical plant №4", subject to the Ministry for Construction of Naval and Military Enterprises (MVMS, existed in 1946 - 1949). The plant was located in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).

"БСРЗ". BSRZ too is an enigmatic abbreviation. This can be Baltic Ship-Repair Plant or some other. These covers are widely distributed through many cities of the former USSR - Petersburg and Moscow and even as far away as Khabarovsk.

"Ремонтно-прокатная база ОСВУ, Кишинев". Metal-rolling and repairs base of the OSVU (which is Odessa Construction and Repair Administration), located in Kishinev (Chișinău). The territory of Moldova was part of the Odessa Military District after joining the USSR in 1940 and had connections with Odessa in many aspects even before. The OSVU existed until 1955, then it was renamed and the Kishinev's base cover design changed from this one to the design seen below.

"Любохна". The now-defunct foundry in the settlement of Lyubokhna, Bryansk Oblast, subjected to the MPSM. This design probably dates to the verge between 1940's and 50's.

Dneprodzerzhinsk Foundry

The cast-iron plant in the town of Dneprodzerzhinsk (now Kamianske) started sometime in the late 40's. Their covers reflect shifting between several Ministries and later ones are distinguished by the indication of date - a pleasant feature since it's unusual under the GOST-47. Thanks to this, it's possible to trace fragments of the uncharted plant's history: in 1951-1953, it was subjected to "MSPTI" as the Combine of industrial enterprises, in 1953-1955 was transferred to "MS" (newly-created Ministry of Construction) still as the Combine, and in 1956-1959 it was referred as "ChLZ" - a cast-iron foundry proper.

1. Pre-GOST design subjected to "MMP USSR" - the Ministry of Local Industry of Ukraine. Late 1940's - early 1950's.
2. Decently preserved on a lawn, "Dneprodzerzhinsk K.P.P. of the Ministry of Construction, 1955". According to the GOST.
3. Next year, and already it became the Foundry (Ch.L.Z.) instead of Combine (K.P.P).
4. 1957 cover in Moscow.

"МСПТИ ГСМ г.Харьков". MSPTI GSM, Kharkov city. Typical cover design of the Ministry of Construction of Heavy Industry Enterprises (MSPTI, 1946-1953) made by their plant in Kharkov.

"МСПТИ ГСМ г.Ленинград". MSPTI GSM, Leningrad city. Typical design of the Ministry of Construction of Heavy Industry Enterprises (MSPTI, 1946-1953) made by their plant in Leningrad.

"СМЗ ГУПП МКХ РСФСР". SMZ GUPP MKH RSFSR. This cryptic mess stands for: Sverdlovsk Machine-building plant (SMZ) of the General Administration of Industrial Enterprises (GUPP, active 1954-1957) of the Ministry of Communal Services (MKH) of the RSFSR. Made according to GOST 3634-47.

"КЛМЗ". KLMZ cover from Kislovodsk. Mid 1950's. Possibly Kaliningrad mechanical foundry, but this is left unclear.

"Днепролит". Dneprolit Plant (formerly Artel), from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Late 50's - early 60's.

"Днепропетровск ИТК". Corrective-labor colony in Dnepropetrovsk, which had a foundry since 1950.

"Мех. завод Днепростроя, 1952". "Dneprostroy" was one of the largest construction companies, created in 1927 to build hydroelectric stations. First of all, they constructed DneproGES and later other stations. They also had a mechanical plant in Zaporozhye which produced metallic constructions, manholes among them. This one was made in 1952, other dates are present as well, as the enterprise shifted towards crane construction.

"ЗВРЗ Запорожье". ZVRZ, which could be the rail car-repair plant (or some other) in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. Late 50's.

"Воронежский завод сантехизделий". Voronezh Sanitary Equipment Plant of the Ministry of Communal Services. 1950's. This plant have been a prolific manufacturer of standpipes.

"Ржевский Л-М. завод МЖГС". Rzhev Mechanical Foundry (launched in 1947) of the Ministry of Residential and Urban Construction (existed till 1954). Renamed to Crane-building plant in 1962 and continued to produce manholes ever since.

"Урюпинский лит. - мех. завод им. Ленина". Uryupinsk Mechanical Foundry named after V.I.Lenin, from the town of Uryupinsk in Volgograd Oblast. Late 1950's. It's now the Crane-building plant as well.

Завод "Кайтра". From the western frontiers, the so-called showcase of the former Soviet Union - produced by the sanitary equipment factory "Kaitra" (UAB gamykla Kaitra), located in the city of Lentvaris in Lithuania. It was founded in 1949, later expanded and mastered production of cast-iron enamel bathtubs, the process harmful for the workers' health because of high temperatures and enamel dust. Still, it was one of few bathtub producers in the USSR. In 2012, the plant was closed and declared bankrupt shortly. The cover contains factory name written in Russian above, and GOST 3634-47 below.

"МЭМЗ". A cover labeled "MEMZ" - some electromechanical plant. Marked as hydrant, but used as a sewer cover.

"ЛМЗ Верхнеднепровск". There was a hydrolysis plant in the Ukrainian town of Verkhniodniprovsk, recovered from the Nazi-inflicted ruin in 1947 and rebranded into mechanical foundry (LMZ). It then produced sanitary equipment and various machinery. Later it became the Paper-industry machine-building plant.

"Раменский механический завод". An example of positive thinking - this manhole cover is adorned with detailed name of the Ramensky Mechanical Plant "Steel-Construction" in the town of Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast. The plant comes from a workshop, founded in 1943. Later, production of heavy-duty assembly cranes was organized there and they became main output in 1970-1980's. The manhole is made in mid 1950's.

"ВД ДЗМ". "VD DZM". Meaning unknown, but it's quite common. Late 50's.

"Львов МЗ №7". Mechanical Plant №7 in Lvov, Western Ukraine, which was founded in 1944. Covers made in the late 50's.

"Одесса Деттрудколония МВД". Corrective labor colony for children (delinquents) in Odessa.

"Тамбов 1". Slightly convex cover made during the late 1930's and further to the 1940's, by the labor colony №1 in Tambov. The star was trademark of the GULAG corrective system until its disbanding in the early 60's, and was used on everything produced by their numerous camps and colonies: from clothing to machine-tools to manhole covers.

"ОГЭ". "OGE": late 1950's cover, meaning unknown and not yielding to then-current GOST. It could stand for "Chief Power Engineer Department".

"Комбинат Трест Стройдеталь г.Карловка". The "Stroidetal" Trust industrial combine from the town of Karlovka, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. In the late 50's renamed into Mechanical plant and was active until recently,

1. Kutaisi Machine-building Plant ("Кутаисский машзавод") - once Georgia's largest enterprise for the production of heavy mining equipment. Construction began during the war, launched in November 1946. Now abandoned.
2. "Courtyard Canalization" in Vidnoe, Moscow Oblast. Obviously shipped from Dnepropetrovsk where it was quite common.
3. "MMP USSR" with a star in Vidnoe. MMP is probably the short-lived Ministry of Metal Industry (1948-1950).
4. Made by Michurinsky Locomotive-Repair Plant ("ЛРЗ") in the town of Michurinsk.

"Курск". The town of Kursk coat-of-arms on a 1950's cover: three partridges upon a band. Possibly the only such example: while depiction of coats-of-arms is very common practice in Europe, it was virtually nonexistent in the USSR and remains so in modern Russia.

"Горловский машзавод". Machine-building plant named after S.M.Kirov, from Gorlovka, in Ukraine. 1950's. Modeled after the common Moscow sewer design, but with a distinct logo.

Nameless drain cover with recesses and holes, in Avangard stadium, Moscow.

"Завод им. Сталина, г. Астрахань". Astrakhan Shipyard named after I.V.Stalin, like virtually half of businesses were back in the 1950's. The ship-repair plant was created in 1930. On January 26, 1962, the plant was de-Stalinized and renamed, and in 1973 it was merged with two other factories into the shipbuilding production combine.

"ЛМЗ Ставрополь". LMZ Stavropol. Mechanical plant and foundry from the city of Stavropol, 1950's.

"Телефон СЗПК". SZPK Telephone, in Kislovodsk. Probably not earlier than the late 1950's.

"ЦРМЗ СГС 1957". TsRMZ (Central mechanical & repair plant) of SGS (Stalingrad-Gidrostroy), 1957.

"ДТРЗ". DTRZ - possibly the Dnepropetrovsk Locomotive-building plant. 1950's.

"Васильков". Vasilkov is a small town in Kiev Oblast, Ukraine. Made by one of local plants in the late 50's.

Artel "Technik" (Molochansk)

A wonderful find in Krasnokazarmennaya Street - cover made by the artel "Technician", formerly located at the Ukrainian town of Molochansk in Zaporizhia Oblast (founded by German settlers in 1803 under the name of Halbstadt, town status since 1938). The artel was founded in 1927, it produced lathes, screw-cutting machines, heating boilers, spare parts for tractors, supplied cast-iron molding for neighboring plants in the town of Tokmak. It employed about 300 workers. In the late 1950's it was reduced to a foundry of the Tokmak metalworking plant. The abbreviation "УКПС" ("UKPS") means "Ukrpromsovet", that is Ukraininan Council of Cooperative & Artisan Unions, which held rule over numerous artels in the postwar times. The cover was made in the early 50's.

Covers made during the GOST 3634-61 years of operation (1962-1979) and further

In April 1961, the new GOST 3634-61 "Cast-Iron Covers for Inspection Manholes" was approved and came into effect on January 1 next year, replacing the old GOST 3634-47. Letters for marking the network remained the same: GV, GK, VD, PG. In addition, weight indication - "T" (heavy) or "L" (light) - was introduced. Also it was now necessary to make a small hole at the cover to check for accumulated harmful gases. The GOST reference, year of production and manufacturer's brand (be it full name or logo), were to be indicated obligatorily. This standard was stricter than its predecessor and allowed no more toying with unusual sizes and forms other than flat (exceptions were known, but incredibly rare). Following the beginning of mass urban construction, covers made according to GOST 3634-61 are found everywhere in all cities without exception. Absolute majority in Moscow and the Moscow region were made by the local plant "Vodopribor".

In the widest sense, covers made before this GOST could be considered "old", and most of those made after are "modern", losing almost all the charm they still had.
The next GOST, which came out in 1979, changed standard patterns to tangential ("waved" or "sun-ray") design used until now. It also changed the marking of communications to just one letter: "K", "V" and "D" for sewer, water supply and urban drain, respectively.

"Vodopribor" Plant (Moscow)

The Moscow plant "Vodopribor" comes from Alekseevskaya pumping station of the first Mytishchi water supply aqueduct, opened in 1892. Recently it was the largest manufacturer of manholes in Russia and possibly second largest in the USSR, it mainly supplied Moscow and suburbs, where their covers could be found on every step. Mass production of covers on the Vodopribor plant began in connection with the rise of cheap living quarters construction, so it's very easy to stumble upon their older logo ("MZV", until 1978) and newer logo ("elephant", from 1979 onwards). This is to say nothing of telephone covers, which too has been made abundantly, as noted above. They really had to have huge casting capacities.

1964 - 1972

The earlist date-bearing cover marked with Vodopribor plant logo traces back to 1964 (the GOST was already in use since two years prior). But these are still uncommon. Further years are much more frequent.

1. The drain cover from the first year of GOST-based production. The "T" letter indicating cover weight is stamped twice - an early installment weirdness.
2. Urban water supply cover (GV) of 1967.
3. Urban sewer cover (GK) of 1974, а rare exception past the designated timeframe.
4. The common underside structure.

1972 - 1977

In 1972, design was changed greatly according to the new self-developed standard TU 400-9-61-72ТМ. Starting with yet another "Experiment" in 1972 which still looks somewhat similar in texture to the previous batch. The ears were removed and replaced with two hook holes. Some other manufacturers adopted similar design as well.

1978 - 1979

Since 1978, the plant used new technical regulations: TU 400-9-61-77, which presented major changes which were tested and then transferred to the forthcoming new GOST in 1979. Among these was return of the "ears" (but only two now and ever since) and change from the previous tiled pattern to the now-common tangential ("wave") pattern. The logo "МЗВ" also became convex, but only a year later, in 1979, it was changed to a new trademark - an elephant. Кроме того, на люке появился знак качества СССР в пятиугольнике - символ, которого не удостаивался ни один люк других заводов. Знак качества продолжали штамповать до середины 80-х на очень многих (но не всех) крышках "Водоприбора".
The short period in 1978-79 had the covers with new design, but still older logo. Thanks to enormous casting powers, these covers are not quite rare.

1979 - 1981

The new "elephant" trademark introduced. Other things were left untouched for a while, the network marking still consists of two letters. But since 1981, the first letter has been removed, as on the general bulk of other covers made according to the fresh GOST 3634-79. Also the "big three" networks turned into the "big four" - gas supply ("MG") has been added as an experiment, made by this plant so far. Almost twenty years passed before other foundries also started to make gas-marked covers of regular size.

1. Sewer (GK), year 1980.
2. Storm drain (VD), year 1980.
3. Water supply (GV), year 1980.
4. Gas supply (MG), year 1981. This was the earliest, rare example of a normal-sized gas cover. Until late 90's they remained niche product only manufactured by "Vodopribor", before the newest GOST brought them to general acceptance.

1981 - 2000's

In 1981 the double marking was replaced with a single letter: "GK", "GV" and "VD" disappeared for good, giving way to the slightly boring designations: "K", "V" and "D", respectively. Initially, the Vodopribor plant used its old technical conditions from year '77, and in 1983 newer conditions were adopted: TU 400-9-61-82, similar to the mainstream GOST that every other foundry used. Thanks to all these changes the covers, not quite beautiful already, became even more insipid.

1. The sewer, marked "К", year 1983.
2. Water supply ("В"), of 2001, made by yet another GOST issued in 1989 (which didn't really change anything).
3. A cluster of covers above a heating network maintenance chamber, mid 2000's. The latest GOST 3634-99, which came out in 2001, is admirably flexible, partially based on European standards and encompassing wide variety of cover forms and designs, such as Heating network and Gas, previously made by their own regulations. It also allows not to indicate the date.
4. Vodopribor's current production is very rare. The heating cover from 2010's with generally better quality of casting, type of manhole (weight) is indicated but date not specified.

1. Drain ("Д") from 1990, type TMM.
2, 3. Sewer ("К") from 1991, type TMM2, and its underside. While the TM cover type has simple concave underside, TMM and TMM2 are strengthened with circle and bars combo.

Kerch Pipe-Casting Foundry

Founded in 1961 as an advanced enterprise, one of the largest producers of pipes and manhole covers of the Soviet era. In the early decades it belonged to the Ministry of Local Industries, but in the late 1980's it was suddenly decided to abruptly shift direction and transform the plant into an appliance-assembling industry for shipbuilding. The casting was dropped and transferred to neighbor Metallurgic Combine (KMK). Once in the independent Ukraine, the plant was closed altogether and ruined. But during its best years, manholes were produced in huge quantities, and found in almost every city of the former Soviet Union right up to Vladivostok, and there were several design variants ultimately condensing into one.

1. Early and impressive GOST-based design in the town of Toropets, no date specified (used in the early 1960's).
2. Early cover in Vladimir, made according to GOST-61, but no date specified as well.
3-4. The typical production of late and earlier years, in Kislovodsk and Svetlogorsk.

In 1944, the 70th Mechanical Plant of the Ministry of Defense was founded in the town of Chernivtsi, remarkable for its history. Until 1918 the town belonged to Austria-Hungary, then until 1940 was seized by Romania (named Cernăuți), after that becoming part of Soviet Ukraine. So it has preserved its architecture (and manholes) of the three periods mentioned. The plant itself underwent reconstruction and expansion in the late fifties, which allowed it to increase output and begin to produce manholes. In 1996, the enterprise was renamed Chernivtsi metalworking plant. But in 2012, after sixty-eight years of work, it was folded. The cover pictured below was made in 1981 and bears their logo.

Andreapol Foundry

A foundry in Andreapol, Tver Oblast, founded in 1942 and specially focused on manhole production. This was not a genuine plant but a workshop submitted to a bigger production combine in the city of Kalinin (Tver). Their covers are very common through late Soviet years, until the foundry closed in the 1990's and is no more.

1. Early design used from 1958 to 1967.
2. A 1968 cover in Vladimir.
3. The quality kept decreasing with years.
4. Behold the typical quality of the 1980's, which is truly abysmal.

Balakhna Mechanical Foundry

Mechanical foundry in the town of Balakhna, Gorkovsky Oblast (now Nizhny Novgorod Oblast). The industry was created in 1945 and changed names frequently. They were quite prolific source of manholes in the region.

1. An earliest, large and bulging cover, labeled Balakhna Mechanical & Repair Plant - also the smoothest and most beautiful in constrast with their later output.
2. The "SDK" cover. This name was used in 1959-1963. The Stalin epoch, when poor quality production could easily lead to harsh penalties, are long lone - so clods and flaws are common. But look, they pictured small hammer and sickle!
3. "Balakhna LMZ" - the cast-iron mechanical foundry, name used in 1963-1973.
4. "Balakhna OEMZ" - the experimental mechanical plant. Used in 1973-1988.

"МЗ-1 МС БССР". Mechanical plant №1 of the Ministry of Construction of the BSSR, 1963.

"ПЭМЗ". Some PEMZ plant, 1976. Three-ear variation also exists.

"Механический завод №2". Mechanical Plant №2 of the Specstroy (Special Construction Administration), mid 1970's.

"Красный путь". Moscow's Krasny Put plant, 1970's. Before the revolution, this was the foundry "Perenud", which cast the covers for the first Moscow telephone network. Later it belonged to the Ministry of Railways.

"СПРМЗ". SPRMZ, 1970. Sverdlovsky Railway Repair-Mechanical Plant (now in Yekaterinburg).

"Flame". This flame logo belonged to Chuchkovsky Plant of Ryazan Oblast, used from mid 1970's to the 2010's.

"55 МЕХ ЗАВОД". The 55th Mechanical Plant of the Ministry of Defense, a metalworking enterprise based in Strelna near Leningrad.

"ИЗСТО". IZSTO - Ivanteevka Sanitary-Technical Equipment plant in Moscow Oblast, 1972.

"1965 ЖЛМЗ". An unknown ZhLMZ plant, 1965. The only such cover ever found.

"ВТЗ им. Жданова". VTZ named (formerly) after A.A.Zhdanov - Vladimir Tractor-building plant. 1960's.

Moscow heating networks and collectors

The history of central heating in Moscow began in 1928, when a first steam line was laid (and in Leningrad, the heating was turned on even earlier, on November 25, 1924). In 1931, a first 250 mm hot water heating pipeline was laid from the State Electrical Station in the center of Moscow. To carry out works on design and construction of heating networks, the MOGES-Mosenergo enterprise was established in January the same year. By 1941, six thermal power plants operated in Moscow, 63 km of water and 17 km of steam networks connected with 445 residential buildings and dozens of enterprises. After the war, many houses have still been constructed with stove heating and European-style built-in boilers, but communal heating systems have been actively developing, new CHP plants were built, and centralized heating systems became large-scale.

1. Square heating network of the VDNKh starts at the local boiler building and serves the entire exhibition. It's also marked with the old name "VSHV", which existed until 1959 and was replaced with VDNKh thereafter (Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) - hence, the hatch must be quite old.
2. Earliest known heating covers are square-shaped, two-piece, signed "HEATING NETWORK" ("ТЕПЛОСЕТЬ"). They were laid in 1950's and few survived since then. Here just a half is intact.
3. A respectable six-part entrance near the Tverskoy overpass, with handles and recesses. A predecessor of later similarly-sectioned hatches, possibly used decades ago for heating and sewer system chambers.
4. Typical sectioned hatch from the 1960-1980's, used to lower bulky equipment into the comunication collectors. These collectors has been in construction since the sixties, intended to house heating lines, water supply and electric cables all together in a single underground tunnel. These maintenance hatches were usually four- or six-part, each part with a locking device (the round holes) and rather complex inner design.

Rounded heating network covers

About the beginning of the 1960's, covers of Moscow heating network became round-shaped, but still different from all regular covers by their increased diameter, since they were made according to their own standards, the heating network chamber norms, which defined dimensions of a chamber itself (where equipment, pipe valves and various bifurcations are located) and manholes therein. According to these rules, each chamber must have 2 to 8 escape covers, that's why they are usually found in clusters, immediately giving out the location of a chamber under the ground. The cover diameter had to be at least 63 cm, but usually it was 80 cm. Since the early 2000's, the norms were dropped and heating manholes have been made according to the general GOST 3634-99 with standard size and design.
In Soviet years, many of them in Moscow were produced by the Central Mechanical & Repair plant (TsRMZ) - the pocket enterprise of Mosenergo (which also owned electric and heating networks). They have standard diameter of 80 cm.

1. Typical noname heating ("ТС") cover, believed to come from 1960's.
2. TsRMZ cover from 1972. Reasonably simple and clean.
3. TsRMZ cover from 1983. The quality has dropped.
4. TsRMZ cover from 1985.

1, 2. Rare old Mosenergo Heating Networks cover with a vent shaft extension, positioned on a heating chamber.
3. Custom heating network cover made by MMSZ plant in Moscow, 2003.
4. Custom heating network cover made by "Strommashina" plant from the town of Kohma. Mid-90's.

Modern covers (made according to GOST 3634-79 and subsequent standards)

Kupavna Experimental Mechanical plant (KOEMZ), in the town of Staraya Kupavna, Moscow Oblast. Made in 1978 under experimental regulations even before the general GOST popped out.

"Centrolit" foundry from Gomel, the largest cast-iron producer in Belarus. Water supply, 2002.

Mariinsky Plant of Metal Products, the town of Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblast.

Minsk Heating Equipment plant. Modern years.

Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant

Custom covers for various networks made by NMZ, formerly Gorkovsky Machine-building plant, founded in 1934. It was a classified enterprise during Soviet times since it produced (and continues to) weaponry and nuclear energy installments but also issued a number of mundane goods such as vacuum cleaners and manhole covers.

1. "TK" could stand either for telephone canalization or heating network.
2. "GG" and a flame logo - gas supply.
3. "D" - common urban drain.
4. "VK" - water supply.

АО "Нижегородский водоканал". Nizhny Novgorod urban water supply enterprise.

"ЛГС ТЭМЗ". TEMZ is the Tomsk Electromechanical plant, using this peculiar cover shape of its own patent.

Lugansk foundry, formerly a well-known producer of Soviet cast-iron pipes and manholes. Cover made in 2006. But since the conflict in Donbass flared up the plant has been virtually closed.

"SO" cover in Kislovodsk. Probably Finnish if not Swedish? There are many Finnish manholes imported.

Nizhny Novgorod, one of identical covers made specially for the pedestrian area on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street.

"Геопром". European-style sewer cover made by "Geoprom" company for Mosvodokanal, the water supply operator.

"Тяжпрессмаш". The standard hinged floating-base water supply manhole made for Mosvodokanal by one of their usual suppliers, the Tyazhpressmash plant from Ryazan. A typical Hawle hydrant was placed near.

A Geoprom-made hinged cover for Mosvodokanal with unusual design.

Modern sewer cover made by Kazansky fittings plant.

"Люберецкий водоканал". The town of Lyubertsy water supply enterprise.

Rare European Rexess hinged manhole made by PAM for Mosvodostok (the drains operator).

Compass hatch made by Standartpark, a leader of surface water disposal systems, their manholes are generally plastic.

"Бецема". "Becema" plant in Krasnogorsk (Moscow oblast), which produces transport for cement industry. They seemed to adopt cover production in the poor 1990's, like many other plants did to survive.

The Wavin-Labko cover near a new shopping mall. In 2003 the Finnish family business "Labko" was sold to the international Wavin Group and gained this joint name.

"Усачёвский рынок". An old-style cover made for the Usachevsky Market, which was opened in 1934.

"120 лет канализации". Commemorative cover issued by Mosvodokanal to mark the 120th anniversary of Moscow sewer systems (1898-2018). Depicts the Central pumping station in Moscow.

"ВДНХ" Commemorative cover with the main arch of VDNKh, placed during the massive reconstruction in 2018.

"Зарядье" A custom cover for the famous Zaryadie Park, laid in 2018.

1. "Pražská kanalizace" cover - a present from Prague - ended up somehow in the center of Moscow.
2. "SV" cover at the courtyard of Tretyakov gallery.
3. Niemisen Valimo cover from Finland.
4. Another Finnish cover, made by Labko in mid 2000's, before they were swallowed by Wavin.

1. One of the custom covers for the business center "Krasnaya Rosa", formerly a textile factory.
2. A representation for "Nikolskaya" hotel, located in the street of the same name.
3. Custom cover for the former chocolate factory, presently an art-space, "Red October".
4. Custom cover made for the new business space, former confectionary factory "Bolshevik".

1. Custom cover made for Tulsky business center.
2. "Selecta" side drain made by French sanitary giant Saint-Gobain PAM.
3. Standard water handhole by Ginmika, a Lithuanian sanitary company.
4. "Polimer Group" plastic cover for the watering system in Park Zaryadie.

1. Socialistic cover made in the late 1940's.
2. The standard fire hydrant design from mid-century.
3. A cover from Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) found in the city of Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic. Other Spanish manholes can also be found here and in the nearest Mari El and Kirov Oblast. Allegedly, these manholes were shipped from Europe to be installed for training - namely, of the locking system, as indicated by markings "CERRAR-ABRIR". But this system must've proved too sophisticated in contrast with the regular Russian system ("slam the cover any way and it's okay").
4. An early design from the Stalingrad Cast-Iron Foundry, made in the beginning of the 1950's.