7,000 feet of tunnels right below our feet
Most students don’t think about how their classroom is being cooled, how the water they are washing their hands with got warm or even what is happening just 3 feet below them as they walk on sidewalks around campus. Little do they know that more than 7,000 feet of tunnels are just below them supporting many of the systems used throughout the university.
Ben Berrett, director of planning, design and construction for facilities on campus, is in charge of what goes on in the tunnel system and said they are probably not what a person would envision a tunnel to be like.
“The tunnels are very well lit, very well ventilated and quite comfortable at a constant air temperature of 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit,” Berrett said. “Some classrooms on campus are probably not as nice as this tunnel.”
The extensive and sophisticated tunnel system was built in 2002 and took about 10 months to finish Berrett said. The project was a costly one for USU.
“The tunnels are tremendously expensive,” Berrett said. “The entire project cost about $40 million to complete, making each foot of tunneling about $4,000.”
Ben Berrett recently took USU Professor Barbara Middleton’s natural resources class on a tour of the tunnel system, and she emphasized the utility and importance the tunnels are to campus.
“The tunnels are an incredible system that support what we do on campus,” Middleton said.
The tunnels contain piping for heating and cooling, and cables for fiber optics and communication and the campus radio.
Berrett said the tunnels are about 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide, leaving ample space to walk through and to complete maintenance repairs when necessary. They are completely cement with sophisticated piping and wiring throughout.
There are many emergency exits located throughout the tunnel – either ladders up to landscape areas or into buildings. He said the new tunnel system connects to nearly all the buildings on central campus.
According to Berrett, the tunnels were originally created to hold piping that distributes high temperature steam throughout campus to heat buildings. He said water is heated to 316 degrees at the plant near the Spectrum and then sent through piping in the tunnels. The steam is then sent back to the plant to be reheated and reused.
Besides heating buildings, this high temperature steam heats water for the dorms, the University Inn and other buildings on campus. Aggie Ice Cream also uses the steam for pasteurization processes.
Later, more pipes were added to the tunnels to distribute cool water to air condition buildings, Berrett said. The plant cools water to 44 degrees, is sent through the piping across campus, and then returns to the plant at about 55 degrees to be reused, he said.
Fiber optics and communication cables, as well as the campus radio antennae, have since been added to the tunnel. Berrett said having the tunnel has been great because it allows for easy additions without the mess of construction.
“The tunnels minimize disruptions to campus,” Berrett said. “Things (like the fiber optic and communication cables) are easy to add because the tunnel is already there.”
Berrett said he does see the tunnels as a security risk because they enter almost all the buildings on campus. However, he said they are continually updating security.
“Most of the newer buildings on campus have security card access to tunnel entrances,” Berrett said. “We are working towards adding this feature to other tunnel entrances on campus.”
All other entrances to the tunnels are locked at all times, Berrett said. Naturally, college students and others are likely to be curious about the tunnels, but instead of trying to sneak in, Berrett said to call and request a tour.
“We have had some students try to sneak into the tunnels, but they were caught by the police,” Berrett said.
The tunnels also make maintenance much easier as well Berrett said.
“If there are problems we don’t have to bring a back-hoe in and dig a big hole,” Berrett said. “The tunnels continue to allow us to do stuff we wouldn’t have been able to do before.”
Berrett said these newer tunnels aren’t the only ones on campus. He said there is a 100-year-old tunnel system below the Quad that is still used. Berrett said they hope to eventually renovate these older tunnels.
The tunnels allow for very high energy efficiency on campus Berrett said.
“The tunnels make the university much more efficient than downtown Logan,” he said.
Other major cities in the eastern United States have what is called a district heating system, using tunnels for heating and cooling, Berrett said.
However, he said less and less cities are continuing to use them. Not every company or building in the city wants to join onto the system, and digging up the city for the creation and extension of tunnels can be very disruptive.
Berrett said at one time Salt Lake City even had a tunnel system, but it was used less over the years and ended with the completion of the LDS Conference Center in 2000.
The tunnel system at USU continues to grow and expand, Berrett said.
Berrett said his committee is currently planning tunnels for the new Agricultural Science Building and for the Early Childhood Education Building.
–karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu