Rumors abound about tunnels snaking underneath the College that could provide chilled-to-the-bone students a way to escape cold winter walks to class. But just a single tunnel actually exists, built to house the College's steam, chilled water, high voltage electricity, telephone and telecommunications systems.
Students sporadically attempt to enter the tunnel to satisfy their curiosity, but official access is limited to authorized Facilities Operation and Management personnel, Assistant Director of Engineering and Utilities Bo Petersson said Tuesday afternoon while giving a rare open tour of the tunnel.
"It's not meant to be a walk-through tunnel. It's a service access tunnel," Petersson said.
The steam tunnel is an eight-foot by eight-foot pipe from the steam plant behind the Hopkins Center to the central chilled water plant near Dartmouth Medical School. It runs under the east side of the green, under the pathway between Baker-Berry Library and Moore Hall and through the basement of Moore. Entrances to the tunnel are located in the steam plant, Moore and a couple of hatched doors in the ground throughout campus.
One entrance is located near the northeast corner of the Green and is referred to as the "Top Hat." This large entrance that can be removed so that repairs requiring a large entrance can be done easily.
Motion detectors and alarm systems alert Safety and Security to any unauthorized people in the tunnel -- but that hasn't stopped some students.
"My friend tried to use a few simple lock picks on a door in the basement of Dartmouth Hall, but a janitor caught him and gave him the phone number of the steam plant worker," David Stanek '07 said.
One recent successful attempt to get into the tunnel was not by a student, but rather by a chipmunk. The rodent set off alarms, confusing FO&M until it was found dead, Petersson said.
Construction of the tunnel began in 1991 and ended in 1998 after four different phases of building.
Petersson cited economic reasons for the tunnel's construction.
Although the project cost about $7 million or $8 million to undertake, the tunnel system helps to discount current FO&M ventures, Petersson said. Having the tunnel allows the utilities systems to be changed without additional digging, and the tunnel costs virtually nothing to maintain.
Part of the tunnel system utilizes the old hospital structures, which were formerly used to transport patients and materials among the hospital buildings. When the hospital was located where the Maynard Street parking lot currently exists, tunnels connected the buildings, as well as Sudikoff and Winifred Raven.
The cancer center, which was in the basement of the old hospital, was also integrated into the system. It houses the central chilled water plant.
