A section of the primary steam pipe for Speed, Deming, and BSB halls sprung a leak November 4, causing hot water outages in the affected dorms and requiring Facilities to open a hole in the road to repair the affected pipe.

Facilities workers took just over eight hours to repair the pipe, but patching up the road again took about two days, according to Wayne Spary, Vice President for Facilities Operations.

“[The pipe] had a pinhole in it. Obviously steam is under 85-plus pounds pressure, so it was coming out pretty quick,” Spary said.

The leak, according to Spary, was caused by corrosion due to a particular piece of the pipe coming into contact with moisture and corroding over an extended period of time. This was the first leak this section of the pipe had suffered.

“Every couple of years we have a steam leak somewhere. We replaced sections of the pipe before, but this is the first time [for this section],” Spary said.

Affected students first found out about the leak from an e-mail sent to BSB, Deming, and Speed halls by Erik Hayes, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. The e-mail said Facilities hoped hot water reserves lasted while the repair was taking place, but that there was a “reasonable chance” that students would find no hot water through the morning of November 5.

Following the e-mail, many students showered immediately to take advantage of the existing hot water reserves.

“I showered before [the pipe was shut down] that day,” Matt Carberry, a freshman in Speed Hall, said. “I had to take a cold shower the next day. It was cold, but seriously…it wasn’t that bad.”

As of press time, the pipe is completely repaired and hot water is available again in all three affected halls. Facilities laid the final layer of asphalt on the torn-up section of road this morning.