This is the cover over the splices in an underground enclosure that is used to supply the many street lights in certain areas of Boston.

I hope no one trips here, or is electrocuted when the cover makes contact with the circuit conductors.

Joe T.
Not sure of the date of this story, but it is somewhat related to what could happen with the cover in the photo.

CHICAGO, Illinois - Portia, a 5-year-old black Labrador retriever, was in for quite a "shock" during her walk with owner Kerry Sorvino. As the 70-pound canine stepped onto a metal plate covering an electrical vault on the sidewalk, she began to convulse uncontrollably as a bolt of electricity surged through her body. Sorvino, not knowing what was wrong, bent over to calm the squealing pooch and was bitten on the hand. A passerby summoned a veterinarian from an animal hospital, who attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. However, he kept getting a shock from her lips and was unable to save her. City officials said a frayed wire apparently contacted the cover plate set into the sidewalk on Wrightwood near Lincoln and Sheffield. An investigation is being launched as to whether other city electrical vaults should be checked