Steam and condensation

The seminary heats a number of buildings with steam heat, which until today, I did not realize, requires a rather intricate underground piping system.  For some days, the storm drain at the curb in front of Sieck Hall has been steaming, big plumes of steam rising into the air.

Experts in such matters were called in and a big hole was excavated to reveal the the problem.  The Condensate pipe rotted or broke and all the condensation from the steam heated building was leaking.  when it hit the cold air, it caused steam. 

Never heard of a Condensate pipe, but all the guys involved threw the word around very knowledgeably.  An added problem occurred when a cedar tree standing nearby the hole began to lean and then lean some more.  Before anything else was done, the machinery took that tree down before it fell on someone.

Then the road was cut out at that spot in order to find the source of the rotted pipe.

The the condensate pipe is the rusty one coming out of the bigger pipe.  Originally, everything had been wrapped in insulation.  The wires forming a T at the top carry the electrical power to the street lights.

Dig a hole and and you get a crowd.

Then comes Steve Mudd, the seminary's facilities director.  He needed to look into the hole too.

Turns out there are granite curbs along that side which they saved after the road was cut out.

The tree came down.

Look how rotten the root system was.  We're probably fortunate it didn't fall on someone.

Infrastructure, unseen and too often unknown.