Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Steam under the streets « Previous Next »
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Nextstopbroadway
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Username: Nextstopbroadway

Post Number: 11
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Can anyone explain to me exactly where all the steam under the city comes from, just curious.
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Rrl
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Username: Rrl

Post Number: 766
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

fire-breathing dragons...
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Kevgoblu
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Username: Kevgoblu

Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 11:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1244
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Manoogian Mansion
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 911
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 912
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There's a map of the network on that site, too.
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Craig
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Username: Craig

Post Number: 76
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Neilr
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Username: Neilr

Post Number: 474
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Gambling_man
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Username: Gambling_man

Post Number: 987
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's the angry soul of Coleman Young.
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Spitty
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Username: Spitty

Post Number: 547
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Ninja Turtles are smoking weed with Splinter.
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Harsensis
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Username: Harsensis

Post Number: 197
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray LOL
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Vas
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Username: Vas

Post Number: 684
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 12:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Is it really just steam? Sometimes its pretty pungent.

Its not something else related to the manufacturing or old manufacturing of cars?
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Bulletmagnet
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Username: Bulletmagnet

Post Number: 130
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 7:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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
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Urbanize
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Username: Urbanize

Post Number: 309
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 8:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Karl
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Username: Karl

Post Number: 6566
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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........
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Urbanize
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Username: Urbanize

Post Number: 315
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"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.
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Psip
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Username: Psip

Post Number: 1580
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Lilpup
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Username: Lilpup

Post Number: 1892
Registered: 06-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 9:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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3rdworldcity
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Username: 3rdworldcity

Post Number: 577
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Alexei289
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Username: Alexei289

Post Number: 1261
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Back to my ICP roots...


Tha smog.. is commming....
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Psip
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Username: Psip

Post Number: 1581
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/76017/82479.html

I am afraid the original thread is off line.
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Burnsie
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Username: Burnsie

Post Number: 917
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 - 5:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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!
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 711
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 - 8:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3212
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 5:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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



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Bvos
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Username: Bvos

Post Number: 2133
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Psip
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Username: Psip

Post Number: 1637
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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.
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 272
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 11:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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?
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Urbanize
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Username: Urbanize

Post Number: 392
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 6:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"(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?'

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