Nextstopbroadway Member Username: Nextstopbroadway
Post Number: 11 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:50 pm: | |
Can anyone explain to me exactly where all the steam under the city comes from, just curious. |
Rrl Member Username: Rrl
Post Number: 766 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:52 pm: | |
fire-breathing dragons... |
Kevgoblu Member Username: Kevgoblu
Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:58 pm: | |
steam tunnels. powered by detroit edison. many of the older buildings downtown are still steam heated. there is a maze of tunnels which run along all the major streets downtown to accomodate this. i believe the main supply comes from connor creek. |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1244 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:00 am: | |
Manoogian Mansion |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 911 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:17 am: | |
Edison actually spun the business off several years ago to Detroit Thermal, LLC. Detroit Thermal generates steam at the Beacon St. plant. It may have one or more other locations as well. http://www.detroitthermal.com/ overview.htm |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 912 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:17 am: | |
There's a map of the network on that site, too. |
Craig Member Username: Craig
Post Number: 76 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:37 am: | |
My grandfather was a beat cop on Washington Blvd. a long time ago. He told me that when it was good and cold he'd stand on one of the steaming manhole covers to get warm. |
Neilr Member Username: Neilr
Post Number: 474 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:30 am: | |
When the Mies van der Rohe townhouses in Lafayette Park were built 50 years ago, they were heated with Edison steam. Decades ago they were converted to individual gas furnaces. |
Gambling_man Member Username: Gambling_man
Post Number: 987 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:18 pm: | |
It's the angry soul of Coleman Young. |
Spitty Member Username: Spitty
Post Number: 547 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:26 pm: | |
The Ninja Turtles are smoking weed with Splinter. |
Harsensis Member Username: Harsensis
Post Number: 197 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:28 pm: | |
Ray LOL |
Vas Member Username: Vas
Post Number: 684 Registered: 01-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:55 pm: | |
Is it really just steam? Sometimes its pretty pungent. Its not something else related to the manufacturing or old manufacturing of cars? |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 130 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 7:57 pm: | |
Here is a painting of one we bought at a garage sale for $1. Its pretty good too! (j.k. Lowell) http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/kodakg roup032207059.jpg?t=1174607186 |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 309 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 8:25 pm: | |
Are y'all sure none of this smoke comes f rom the Company on Madison and St. Antoine? *AS a little fact, Detroit wasn't the only ones with this type of lightning, if you watch an intro of Night Court close enough, you can see the same steam coming out of the streets of NYC. |
Karl Member Username: Karl
Post Number: 6566 Registered: 09-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:09 pm: | |
After looking thru the link provided by Burnsie, I noticed there wasn't much history of how all this steam originated. My understanding is that back in the beginning, this was waste steam from Detroit Edison. The story around the Book Building in the '70s was that some of this steam was run under the sidewalk on Washington Blvd, eliminating the need for snow shoveling. I notified Detroit Thermal that Detroit is misspelled on their website........ |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 315 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:12 pm: | |
"The story around the Book Building in the '70s was that some of this steam was run under the sidewalk on Washington Blvd, eliminating the need for snow shoveling." Heck, the grounds are too warm his day and age period during the winter for significant snow, so that would be a waste of time. |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1580 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:16 pm: | |
There was an in depth discussion about the central heating system a year or 2 ago here on DetroitYES. I can't find it. Perhaps MikeM has it saved. Just about anything you wanted to know was posted. |
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 1892 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:49 pm: | |
The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has steam heat, too. You can tell where the tunnels run by the snow melt. It used to be that students would get caught exploring down there once in awhile but I haven't heard anything like that lately. |
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity
Post Number: 577 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:17 pm: | |
The steam one sees is generally not steam from Detroit Thermal. The steam pipes are in tunnels filled with water, electrical and other utility lines as well. The steam one sees generally results from water leaks or condensation from the water pipes falling on the hot steam pipes. Detroit Thermal a couple of years ago did not generate any steam. It purchased all its steam from the waste plant at I-75 and I-94. Detroit Thermal will be broke in a couple of years or less. Building owners who can afford to are installing on-site gas-fired steam generators to heat their buildings. The ones that can't afford to do that will also be unable to pay Detroit Thermal's ridiculously high rates and DT will fail as will the remaining buildings on the system, probably 30-40 buildings. |
Alexei289 Member Username: Alexei289
Post Number: 1261 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:31 pm: | |
Back to my ICP roots... Tha smog.. is commming.... |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1581 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:31 pm: | |
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/76017/82479.html I am afraid the original thread is off line. |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 917 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 - 5:46 pm: | |
The Board of Water and Light, owned by the city of Lansing, also generates steam for heating. It serves GM plants and downtown buildings, but took a big hit when GM closed most of its near-downtown plants. MSU also generates steam for heat, at its T.B. Simon Power Plant. Back in the early '80s, some computer science student disappeared and the authorities actually looked for him in the steam tunnels, fearing he had become involved in a real-life game of "Dungeons & Dragons." I'm not making that up! |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 711 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 - 8:35 pm: | |
Almost any and ever 'campus' like setting has steam generated heating. It just simply requires a concentration of buildings that are heated in the same method, whereby each building doesn't need its own heating system to take up a portion of its square feet. |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3212 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 5:27 pm: | |
PSIP, I do have it saved. A few pertinent items from the previous thread: http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5529.pdf Service Area
Steam tunnels circa 1910
|
Bvos Member Username: Bvos
Post Number: 2133 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:15 pm: | |
Wayne State is currently in the process of taking all their buildings off the Detroit Thermal system. Detroit Thermal jacked up the rates shortly after buying the system from DTE to the point where building owners can pay to convert to their own heating systems and still break even in a few years time. WSU has to be one of the largest single users of the system. With them gone I would say that 3rdworldcity is right on the bankruptcy. Also as 3rdworldcity stated, they also purchase a lot of their steam from the trash incinerator on 94 and 75. The incinerator is scheduled to be closed in 2008 or 2009. With one of their major steam producers shutting down, this can't be good for Detroit Thermal either. |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1637 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:29 pm: | |
Detroit Thermal just completed a $22M upgrade/update of the Beacon Street plant. (the one off Gratiot and Madison) I do not think that the shutting down of the CAY Memorial Incinerator will have any effect on the company. I think it will be nice to see some steam coming out of those smoke stacks anyway. WSU has been doing that project for years. Its a loss, but new and rehabbed building will fill the void. |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 272 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:37 pm: | |
The dorm building (Art Center Building) at CCS used steam radiator heat. Based on the maps above, it could easily be serviced by Detroit Thermal. Not sure if they made their own steam, or used the pre-existing infrastructure. Anyone know? |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 392 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 6:19 am: | |
"(the one off Gratiot and Madison)" TY, you answered my question from earlier, 'Are y'all sure none of this steam comes from the Company on Madison and St. Antoine?' |