Central Washington University is currently replacing and reinforcing the steam pipes that provide heat to Farrell Hall and the library, one of the final steps in replacing the campus-wide system.

Over the past 20 years, CWU has been incrementally replacing all the heating pipes around campus. The new pipes, with a concrete tunnel protecting them from soil erosion, are a 100-year investment, said Pat Nahan, campus engineer.

The CWU boiler and chiller plant, located in the facilities maintenance yard, provides the heat and air conditioning for all of the academic buildings on campus.

The plant provides pressurized steam and chilled water that flows through underground pipes. The steam heats the air and condenses back into a liquid form and is piped back to the plant to be reheated, according to Nahan.

Some of the steam and condensate pipes have corroded over time due to soil exposure, Nahan said. Minor leaks in the old pipes can be seen within the construction fences outside of Farrell Hall.

After the Farrell Hall and library pipes are installed, CWU’s engineering team will dig across Dean-Nicholson Boulevard., just south of Nicholson Pavilion to replace pipes leading to the athletic’s annex.

According to Hunter Slyfield, CWU alum and mechanical engineer, the street will be closed for about a month after graduation so the pipes can be installed and make the smallest impact on traffic.

All of the piping projects are being sequenced to make the least impact on building occupants. Most of the new pipes can be installed while the old system is in place, Nahan said.

“It’s kind of like surgery,” Nahan said.

The team will wait for a warm day to divert the steam-flow so the occupants won’t notice the heating cut-off.

Additionally, the team plans to replace the cooling system’s water pumps in Farrell Hall and the library next fall.

According to Nahan, the water pumps are located in the buildings’ basements so the construction will go unnoticed.

They’ll use the same strategy as before for the water pumps, cutting the cooling system on a colder day to make the smallest impact.

Over the summer, the final set of pipes will be installed in the Basetties complex. These residence halls are older buildings and do not have cooling systems, so the team will only be replacing steam pipes, according to Nahan.

“Their cooling system is operable windows,” he said.