Story by Ella Kelley, FS Communications Student Assistant
Every year, Facilities Services conducts a campus-wide steam outage to allow for repairs and maintenance to steam lines, vaults, and various facilities. This year, the outage took place from May 31st to June 6th. The outage is generally around a week long, though this year’s outage is shorter than previous years.
During this week, the steam across campus is cut off. Facilities Services uses this time to conduct repairs that are not accessible without shutting off the steam. Several departments within Facilities work quickly to get projects during the steam outage. Utilities Services fix steam leaks on the main lines and grease expansion joints, sanding and changing valves that are not working properly.
When the pipes that carry steam throughout campus heat up, they grow and distort. This requires expansion joints, which absorb the expansion to prevent the pipes from growing out of the ground of moving directions when they heat up.
During the steam outage, many buildings on campus lose hot water and building heat. Despite the warm weather, internal building temperatures will drop when the steam is shut off. This is because both heating and air conditioning help regulate indoor humidity to maintain a comfortable temperature. Without building heat, humidity levels become unbalanced, causing the indoor environment to feel colder.
The steam tunnel delivers steam from the plant to the entire campus, making it the central artery of the system. Because of its critical role, shutting it down for repairs during the year is extremely challenging. If leaks or issues with expansion joints arise, Utilities cannot safely make the necessary fixes without a full campus steam shutdown. The high temperatures inside the tunnel also make it unsafe for workers to perform repairs unless the steam is turned off.
Utilities also uses the steam outage to test and grease valves to ensure they work properly. The valves make it so there can be a partial steam outage without shutting off the steam plant. This year, Utilities installed additional valves in the pipes so they can isolate different sections on campus for repairs. The addition of these valves helps ensure that the Utilities crew can keep the majority of campus running, even when an unexpected steam outage is needed.
While this year’s Steam Week has ended, planning is already underway for the 2026 outage. This involves careful coordination and informative input from campus stakeholders and can be quite the undertaking to schedule.
Prior to this steam outage, the different departments involved met to discuss the jobs that would be performed during the outage. They laid out the sequencing of testing and covered the jobs that needed to be done, ensuring that they had all of the necessary supplies and PPE.
This week is a major commitment for Facilities Services as a whole. Different units within the department work together to maximize the work that can get done in one week. Electrical, Maintenance & Repair, HVAC, plumbing, and our steam crew are involved in the steam outage, with various projects to complete throughout the week.
While the annual steam outage can be inconvenient, it’s a carefully coordinated effort that showcases the dedication, collaboration, and hard work of our team, ensuring the campus remains safe, efficient, and well-maintained throughout the year.