Beneath our Feet

Under the buildings, walkways and tennis courts of UNM lays a maze of underground tunnels University officials avoid speaking of.

Officially known as “the Ford Utilities steam distribution tunnel system,” UNM Utilities spokesperson Jeffrey Zumwalt said the Physical Plant Department keeps the tunnels a secret because they pose a security concern. He said his main concern is the safety hazards that exist in the tunnels.

“We try to downplay the tunnels, and we discourage information about them,” he said. “In a perfect world, we would prefer the public didn’t even know they existed. … They are not a safe place for public use.
There are steam pipes in there, which are a temperature hazard because they can get up to 200 or 300 degrees. It’s dark down there, and they’re not really designed for people to walk through.”

But maintenance workers work beneath our feet most days, Master Water Technician Dave Shadle said. He said he works in the tunnels almost every day, dealing with extreme heat and tight spaces that workers must sometimes crawl through.

Most of the system is designed for employees to enter through building equipment room doors, but the blind ends, smaller tunnels of approximately 4’ by 4’ and tunnel sections accessible only through manholes, exist in certain areas.

“Is it dangerous? Yes and no,” Shadle said. “It’s easy to trip and fall in there, and those steam lines are very, very hot. You can burn yourself on them. As long as you walk slow, don’t reach out and grab things, you’ll be fine.”

Shadle said at least six miles of six different tunnels, containing steam lines, electrical and communication cables and water lines, connect to mechanical rooms in each building.

Zumwalt said each tunnel has security systems in place, and those who work in them are trained to do so. He said tunnel workers have been injured.

UNM has its own set of regulations regarding the steam tunnel system because, according to University Policy, it falls within “a regulatory gray area.”

Workers are required to use the “buddy system,” two-way radios, thick leather gloves and job-specific protective gear every time they enter the tunnels, the policy says.

The work may be dangerous, but Zumwalt said the tunnels are necessary to keep the University heated and running smoothly.

“If they didn’t exist, all the pipes would have to be buried, and any time any work had to be done they would have to dig up a big section of the campus,” he said.