Ken had been struggling with the key for several minutes. The metal door and lock were very old and a patch of rust had accumulated around the keyhole. He wiped the sweat away from his eyes and scraped at the rust again with his screwdriver. He tried the key once more. Finally the blockage gave way and the key slid in with a loud click.
He had to press hard to get the key to turn at all. It felt as though it were going to break off in the lock, but the inertia within the lock slowly relented and the key turned. Once the lock released he tugged at the door and it opened with an audible gust. The air within was stagnant and musty.
"Finally!" He took a swig from his water bottle and placed his tools back in his belt. Ken returned quickly to his truck to get a flashlight and double check the paperwork for the site: #PDOTA13 Tertiary Water Interchange under South Highway Fourteen and Old Mason road bridge. The commission director wanted an inventory of all the older pump sites in the county before funding could be approved for the new waterworks construction next year. Everyone in site management was working extra shifts until all the pump sites had been checked and cataloged. This particular interchange was the oldest on his list: it had not been accessed in over seven years. He clipped his flashlight onto his belt and pocketed a filter face mask just in case the air was worse inside. Clipboard under one arm, he returned to the door.