Chris Banyas
Staff Writer
As of Oct. 16, the parking lot on the north side of Reed Gym, also known as lot G11, was closed, allegedly due to a tunnel collapse.
Steam heat is provided to the various buildings of ISU through a series of tunnels that branch out from the steam plant. One of these tunnels happens to run directly underneath part of the G11 parking lot.
“It hasn’t collapsed but it’s starting to fail. The lid of the tunnel is starting to deteriorate,” said Jason Adams, campus engineer for Facilities Services. “We noticed it early last week while our heat plant operators were doing routine maintenance on the steam line.”
A memo released Oct. 17 described the damage that the tunnel has sustained, stating, “Reinforcing steel is protruding from the underside of the lid, and portions of concrete have been dislodged by the weight and vibration of vehicle traffic. This tunnel is in excess of seven feet deep, and is five feet wide.”
The tunnel’s age is another reason for its current condition.
“Reed Gym was originally constructed in 1950, so the tunnel was put in at the same time and it’s just approaching the end of its useful life,” said Adams. “We considered it a hazard and shut down the parking lot.”
A licensed structural engineer was called in to perform an independent evaluation of the situation.
“They agreed with our assessment that it’s a danger to drive vehicles over it. It’s still safe for light loads, like pedestrian loads,” said Adams.
A design for the repair is currently being put together by an engineer.
“The design is probably a couple weeks out. The actual repair will happen soon after that,” said Adams.
With the miles of tunnels that run underneath the university, this type of repair is something that has been done before, and will likely happen again in the future.
“It should be a pretty routine repair. We actually replaced a tunnel lid top this summer, beginning of the fall semester on [Martin Luther King Drive],” said Adams.
The memo included plans which would “allow for temporary shoring and surface reinforcing should early winter weather force an alternate repair plan.”
