Steam tunnels exist, but not for students

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Busting Bowdoin Myths

Steam tunnels exist, but not for students

January 25, 2008

As temperatures drop to frighteningly low degrees, Bowdoin's rumored underground tunnels would certainly be a comfort to use.

If our colder, northern neighbor Montreal can have a whole underground city, is it really so improbable for Bowdoin to have a network of underground tunnels mirroring those at MIT, the University of Rochester, or Columbia University? Surely, it would provide a more comfortable and efficient way to get from one class to another or from dorm to dorm.

The answer can be summed up in two sentences from Director of Facilities Operations and Maintenance Ted Stam regarding the tunnels:

"They do exist," said Stam. "Students are forbidden to use them."

The main purpose for the construction of the tunnels during the 1900s was to "facilitate installation, repair and replacement of steam lines and other utilities," according to Stam. Now, out of all the steam lines running through the campus, only a small percentage run through these tunnels.

Therefore, the only people with access to the tunnels are highly trained maintenance personnel. And even then, Stam asserts that they are required to follow "very specific safety procedures."

Stam also noted that the tunnels are confined and heated spaces, making them unsafe for students to enter.

"Access points are secured," said Stam. "They are not designed for occupancy other than maintenance with specific safety measures."

In May of 2006, four first-years broke into Moulton through a steam tunnel that ran from a construction site. The students were discovered by Security after stealing food, on account of the alarm they had activated. After the break-in, Security said that they would be working to make entry points more secure.

According to Stam, the tunnels are mostly located under the Quad, but with shorter sections in other places.

An Orient article last year specified that one tunnel runs through Maine, Winthrop, Massachusetts, and Memorial Halls to the Searles Science Building, covering the southern end of campus. Another tunnel goes from Moulton Union to Appleton and Hyde Halls to end at the Walker Art Building.

Thus, while the tunnels themselves do exist, any rumors about students being able to use them to travel from class to class are just rumors.

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