Mystery pipe - what to do?

[see_sam_saw]

Shame this has to be my first post...

So I am in the process of clearing an area in the back garden that will be the site of my future man cave. The area is littered with building rubble left by previous, previous owners - think bricks, broken slab, concrete blobs of bricks and rubble. The area is actually built up higher than the immediate ground level.

While merrily hammering away with a breaker, trying to break down some of the concrete mess, I unfortunately uncovered a pipe (and put the pointed breaker bit through the pipe itself).

The pipe is:
I think cast iron
About 45mm diameter
Was buried no more than 10cm down in concrete, all of which is above the nearest natural ground level.
Pipe runs parallel to the house and street, is approx 4m from the rear boundary
Is amongst some concrete blocks that appear to have made a foundation for a building with no known purpose or history.

The pipe, with a brand new breaker spike sized hole in the side, contains nothing or any recent evidence of a thing.

I have contacted the local council seeking information - no response so far.

I want to know if I should do something urgently, such as panic etc? Or is it likely this is, as I suspect, a decommissioned service pipe for the building that no longer exists and can, as I hope, be safely removed to make way, as all things must, for the man cave.

Any thoughts?

 

[MARK.B.]

Could it just be a piece of scaffold tube buried along with the rest of the rubbish ? no need to panic if nothing came out when you put a hole in it ,then it is unlikely to be problem .

 

[flying haggis]

old gas pipe perhaps

 

[see_sam_saw]

Could it just be a piece of scaffold tube buried along with the rest of the rubbish ?

Thanks Mark. That feels unlikely. The concrete around the pipe looks deliberate eg: the quality and finish is much better than the mess around it.

 

[porker]

Looks to me like an old pipe and probably nothing to worry about. Not uncommon to find stuff like this. As things change people leave the old pipework Services like gas and water should be much deeper if done properly. Personally I wouldn't worry if there's nothing coming out of it now it will probably be OK to remove it.

 

[see_sam_saw]

old gas pipe perhaps

That's my gut feeling too.

 

[MARK.B.]

Possibly used as a conduit in the past
And welcome to the site

 

[see_sam_saw]

Thanks for the replies.

Is there something I am supposed to do in this situation, beyond notify the council? I would hate to remove it, build on top and then find out I should never have touched it and my neighbours are now without dial-up internet or whatever was in that pipe previously.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

If you have bust the pipe and cannot smell gas, see water or cables it may be a redundant service. The risk is it could also be a service that is live but shut off at a valve somewhere up line. If someone turns it on in the future you could end up with water or more dangerous gas pouring out uncontrolled.
No need to panic at this stage.
I would suggest you trace it back as far as you can, either to an open end, your boundary or edge of your slab, and cap it of if required.
May be worth getting a plumber or builder to take a look if you are uncertain.
if you smell gas at all clear the area and call your local gas company who will come out and make it safe.
For information you can find any service at any level in old buildings sometimes concreted in or loose. Modern regs have only been in force for the last 20 or 30 years. Before that it was a free for all.
Hope this helps.

 

[see_sam_saw]

If you have bust the pipe and cannot smell gas, see water or cables it may be a redundant service. The risk is it could also be a service that is live but shut off at a valve somewhere up line. If someone turns it on in the future you could end up with water or more dangerous gas pouring out uncontrolled.
No need to panic at this stage.
I would suggest you trace it back as far as you can, either to an open end, your boundary or edge of your slab, and cap it of if required.
May be worth getting a plumber or builder to take a look if you are uncertain.
if you smell gas at all clear the area and call your local gas company who will come out and make it safe.
For information you can find any service at any level in old buildings sometimes concreted in or loose. Modern regs have only been in force for the last 20 or 30 years. Before that it was a free for all.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. Quite positive there is nothing in this pipe. I didn't want to dig up anymore if it was meant to be left alone. But will proceed to investigate further.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the neighbours I am pretty sure you’ll find out one way or the other if you have knocked their broadband out

 

[Ozi]

Many years ago my Dad found a similar pipe which turned out to be a disused gas pipe, he removed the part of it exposed on our property and as GSP suggests capped it off. Good job he did because a couple of years later the waterboard connected up to it (I kid you not) all our neighbours had unexpected garden fountains.

 

[Spectric]

old rainwater drainage pipe from outbuilding like toilet shed if property is old.

 

[Jacob]

Old gas pipe tends to smell strongly of gas even many years after it has stopped being used. I know this from finding one here. It was connected to an ancient meter, now on permanent loan to the National Gas Museum in Leicester. Fun place for a day out for all the family!

 

[Inspector]

There are companies that scope drains with fiberoptic cable looking for breaks or roots in them. They would be able to check it through the hole to see where it starts and stops.

Pete

 

[doctor Bob]

......................... now on permanent loan to the National Gas Museum in Leicester. Fun place for a day out for all the family!

Can you see everything in a day, or should I plan a weekend visit.

 

[adidat]

a few months back I had to core into a brick concrete drain riser for a macerator waste. it all started going badly and ended up going through three core bits, i then figured out why when it finally went through...

thats me coring straight through an old iron pipe. have not heard anything since....

adidat

 

[paulrbarnard]

It’s amazing what you can find in the ground. At one house I was digging a flower bed and all of a sudden the ground turned in to sand. It was a significant pile of it... A short distance after that it was several inches of mortar. I figured it was where they had the mixer. A couple feet more and I uncovered the edge of a pallet which had six hard bags of cement sat on it. I carried on on the off chance of scoring a mixer but no such luck. Obviously when the house was built they just dumped the topsoil on top of all the crap they had left there.

 

[dickm]

At our last house, the lads who were putting in a new water main using a mole were "persuaded" (used fivers!) to stay on one evening and mole in the armoured cable to my shed 20-30 yards up the garden. Got to just outside the footprint of the shed and went exactly centrally through a land drain tile. Not that land drains did much in that clay.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

Built a school 10 years or so ago. After doing a full site survey using ground penetrating radar a gas service showed up. We mapped it on the ground and did trial holes every 5m to confirm depth. Was a consistent 6-700mm. Months later when doing the final planting the landscaper managed to push a garden fork through it at maximum 100mm below the surface.
looks like when it was installed 30 years previous there was the foundation of a wall at this point so instead of digging through it they just laid it over the top and then dropped it down to lower level at the other side.
you have no idea looking at the ground what is beneath.