Last week’s snowstorm left many students slipping and sliding on campus. Heated sidewalks and walkways may have saved some Cougs an icy fall.
Yet, those heated sidewalks WSU proudly claims are not necessarily heated.
Jeff Lannigan, facility services utilities and energy associate director, said multiple elements of snow melt and snow removal systems around campus give the appearance of heated sidewalks.
One of those is steam tunnels. Beneath many walkways are seven miles of steam tunnels generating heat that indirectly melts snow on certain roads and pathways.
“[Students] are more likely to see that kind of thing along main roads, like Stadium Way has a lot of tunnels alongside it, and Grimes Way,” Lannigan said. “There’s some through Terrell Mall, but it’s down under the ground a little further, so it probably is not as effective at melting the snow.”
He said some areas around campus, like Terrell Mall, that do not fall along main roadways have a snow melt system, especially near building entrances.
The snow melt systems operate as electric heaters inside the concrete, or in some cases, there are pipes in the concrete through which facility services run hot water to help the snow melt.
However, Lannigan noted that these snow melt systems use high levels of energy. He said facility services try to use them sparingly, turning them on and off only when they are absolutely needed.
“The idea with [snow melt systems] is not to necessarily create a path everywhere, but just to the places big snow plows can’t get to so people can safely get in and out of buildings, especially first thing in the morning,” Lannigan said.
As the WSU campus continues to expand and buildings are renovated, students might notice more snow melt systems. However, for the most part, he said, facility services’ main tactic for snow removal is to go on campus and manually shovel the snow.
Teylor Sauer, senior public relations and advertising major, said she always believed WSU had heated sidewalks, similar to how some houses have heated floors.
Though she has not slipped on campus, she said she appreciates the so-called heated sidewalks, as the hilly terrain can make walking to class challenging in the snow.
According to The National Weather Service, snow is not forcasted in Pullman during the next seven days. However, the next time snowflakes fall and campus gets blanketed in white, take a moment to notice where snow seems to melt and where it does not.
