UC Berkeley Web Feature
Reduced steam for heat and hot water May 4-6
BERKELEY – Physical Plant-Campus Services plans to shut down and repair a 10-inch steam line, one of two steam mains under Campanile Way that serve much of the campus, during the weekend of May 4-6. The work may result in reduced heat and hot water for buildings on the east side of campus during the repair period.
 Buildings affected by steam line repairs May 4-6. (Click for larger map) |
Repairs will be made to fix conditions resulting from recent seismic activity. The work will reduce the risk of possible future failure of the steam line, which would have serious consequences for the campus. Steam generated in the campus's co-generation plant and distributed via underground pipes is used for building heat and hot water on the central campus.
Work is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday, May 4, and continue until 5 p.m. Sunday, May 6.
As the repair work is being done, we anticipate a reduction in steam pressure that may affect building heat and hot water, especially in buildings on the east side of campus (east of and including Dwinelle Hall and Moffitt Library, but not including the MLK Union and Cesar Chavez Center). To minimize the impact of the repairs to steam pressures, heating will be reduced for the weekend in a number of buildings (see list below). Additionally, heating and ventilating start-up time will be moved to 10 a.m. to reduce early morning steam loads; this applies only to buildings with systems that are turned off at night. The result of these actions may be lower-than-normal temperatures in the affected buildings over the weekend -- the exact impact depends on weather conditions at the time.
How Building Occupants Can Help
Any reduction in steam use will help assure adequate steam pressures on the east side of campus as repair work is carried out. Please limit use of hot water and building heat from 6-10 a.m. during the weekend of May 4-6. Reducing equipment use would also help, including autoclaves, dishwashers, cage washers and steam radiators/convectors.
If you would like more information or have a concern about the steam line repair, please contact Wayne Jin in PP- CS at 642-8009 or wjin@berkeley.edu. If you experience problems with hot water, heating or ventilation during the weekend of May 4-6, please contact the PP-CS Call Center at 642-1032.
Affected buildings
Barrows Hall
Bechtel Library
Calvin Lab
Cory Hall
Davis Hall
Doe Library
Dwinelle Hall
Etcheverry Hall
Evans Hall
Gardner Stacks
Haas Business School
Hearst Memorial Mining Building
Law Building (Boalt)
LeConte Hall
McCone Hall
Moffitt Library
Simon Hall
Soda Hall
Stanley Hall
Wheeler Hall
Wurster Hall