The steam leaking from beneath Guilford College has been a nuisance to students since last fall. The steam outside Hege and King halls and elsewhere across campus comes from the 80-year-old network of heating and hot water pipes, which is being repaired by maintenance.
Students have been tolerating the steam for months, blocking pathways with an unpleasantly moist cloud. Bryan Fernandes, an early college student, first noticed the steam about a year ago on the way to the library.
Once just an isolated plume coming from a manhole outside Mary Hobbs, the steam problem has spread to an iconic tree stump near King and some spouts outside Duke. On colder mornings, the steam is thick enough to block a student’s vision.
While the steam seems to be spreading across campus, it thankfully remains an inconvenience at most. Momin Khan, another early college student, mentions his experience walking past the steam on the way to class every day.
“It kinda smells like metal … I walk through it or walk around it depending on how nauseous I feel that day,” he said. As for myself, the eyesore of “CAUTION” tape blocking the pathway forces me to circle around Duke to get to the library after class. I always walk around the steam, avoiding the unwanted fog clinging to my glasses.
Students are more worried about the long-term consequences of leaving the steam spewing than the short-term inconveniences, though. The steam has already tarnished the red bricks of King Hall.
“Will the steam hurt the environment?” Khan asks. The steam won’t do anything to the environment, but the excess moisture from the steam can be absorbed into the bricks that build our campus. When too much moisture gets trapped in the bricks, they’re more prone to cracking in the winter when the water freezes and thaws, according to the National Park Service.
The college is working to stop the steam before it can cause any problems. The steam comes from a network of pipes that provide hot water and heating to buildings on campus.
Robert Bell, director of communications at Guilford, says “some sections just haven’t held up as we had hoped for. To push all that steam through those pipes requires a lot of pressure and stresses an already aging system.”
To describe Guilford’s steam system as aging might be an understatement. This system has been operating for nearly 80 years, which explains the frequent leaks. While maintenance has patched up some of the pipes, the network will need a major overhaul to ensure it stays functional. The college estimates that it will cost about $1 million to repair the west side of the network, which includes Duke Hall, King Hall and Rachel’s Cottage.
Guilford wants repairs to the system to impact students as little as possible. Heat and hot water to the central campus area were cut for a weekend in March while a steam line was being repaired. Hot water across campus was unavailable for some time in May when the systems in Duke and Mary Hobbs were being fixed.
Temporary fixes have been going on for months, but the college has not scheduled a plan to overhaul the system. The capital renewal project is on the college’s radar, but a timetable hasn’t been established for when the project will begin. With the college running on tighter budgets, the repairs might have to wait for a bit longer.
As for now, students shouldn’t worry too much about walking through the steam or getting a whiff every now and then. The steam may be a distraction from the college’s quaint environment, but Guilford is trying their best to bring back the uninterrupted scenery.
