Going deep to uncover USU’s tunnels
Unknown to most students, there are more than two miles of tunnels running below their feet as they walk to their classes. These tunnels provide the heating and cooling for all the buildings and residence halls on campus and, recently, south campus residents got to take a look.
For a limited-edition event on Oct. 27 and 28, the students living on the south end of campus were invited to tour the tunnels as part of the resident’s association.
During the first week of school, resident assistants from Moen, Reeder, Greaves and Merrill Hall planned a list of activities they wanted to do this semester to encourage students to mingle with each other.
Some of these activities included dinners, a haunted house and, of course, the tunnels.
Sophia Kokoshka, a resident assistant in Moen Hall, said it took a combined effort to come up with the unique idea. Although she said it wasn’t easy scheduling tour guides and making flyers, it was something they all thought would be worth it. Many students were interested in touring the tunnels, even more than the organizers expected. Ten people came to the tour on Oct 27, but closer to 30 were able to participate the next day.
“I went on the tour because I felt it would be a good opportunity to get to know the campus on another layer and see how everything is connected,” said Hailey Larson, a USU student.
And the tunnels really do connect everything on campus. Students on the tour were able to walk all the way from the Central Energy Plant, which is located near Maverik Stadium , to the Merrill-Cazier Library completely underground.
According to Reid Olsen, the manager of the Central Energy Plant who led the tour, the tunnels are a more convenient way to provide heating and cooling to the campus.
Large pipes containing steam up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and thousands of gallons of water are much easier to maintain and repair using the tunnels. The tunnels also carry fiber optics and connect campus buildings to the internet.
Students may have also noticed the large grates, covered by cement blocks around campus. These are actually vents leading directly down into the tunnels, providing ventilation and keeping the tunnels at a comfortable year-round 70-80 degrees.
“My favorite part was when we were going through the tunnels, looking up at some parts and seeing where it goes out above ground,” Larson said. “Every day I pass many of those vents above ground, so I loved seeing what was on the other side of it.”
The tunnels seem to be such a mysterious and spooky part of USU, that the theme of the Howl this year was, “What Lies Below” which is based on the underground passageways.
Kokoshka thought this was convenient, given they planned this activity before the theme was announced.
Amanda LeVitre, another USU student, agreed and said it made the tour even more enticing. She said it even set the scene for a good way to end Halloween, especially when they turned all the lights out.
According to Olsen, getting a tour of the tunnels is rare but not impossible. He gives about four to five tours each semester. The one thing he wants students to know is they are the priority at the Central Energy Plant.
“We’d like to be as efficient and green as possible, but our number one priority is being reliable,” Olsen said. “We want you guys to have heat in the winter and cooling in the summer, and next to that is efficiency. We try to be as environmentally responsible as possible.”
Despite some mysterious conspiracies that some may have about the tunnels, they aren’t anything to be afraid of.
-Maggie.Erekson@usu.edu