“This steam distribution project is critical to UNC’s ability to provide reliable steam service to campus and world class research programs, including UNC Hospital. It also allows UNC to fully utilize their 32 MW cogeneration facility, which is vital to their energy and carbon reduction initiatives.”
Nate, PE
AEI Project Engineer
CoGen Steam Tunnel Replacement Providing reliable steam distribution service for the next century at UNC Chapel Hill. Leadership, engagement, and communication have been vital to AEI’s role in organizing the wide variety of participants involved in this tunnel replacement project. A new 3,600-foot walkable tunnel was needed to replace an existing tunnel providing steam service to the campus. The circa 1939 tunnel was undersized to accommodate the new larger piping that was needed to meet the growing steam loads on campus. Extensive phasing, planning, and temporary shoring and piping systems have been used to maintain adequate steam service throughout construction. Electrical conduits were installed in the 1939 tunnel, which was then filled with flowable concrete fill, converting the tunnel to a large duct bank that will be used to extend power between the cogeneration facility and campus.
The tunnel excavation route lay through a congested, narrow (about fifty feet wide) corridor on the northwest edge of UNC’s campus. AEI provided communication leadership engaging immediate constituencies and utilities, and project neighbors, in town hall meetings and individual conversations, maintaining ongoing coordination with the roughly sixty involved organizations and parties. Services:
Size: 3,600 LF, 3-24 inch low pressure (40 psi); 1-16 inch high pressure (150 psi)
Location: Chapel Hill, NC |
