whether you've walked the busy streets of manhattan as a resident or tourist
you've more than likely seen massive plumes of hot steam rising from the sidewalk these large
orange and white striped tubes that puff away have perhaps become as iconic as the city itself
but have you ever stopped to wonder what is its purpose
well over 100 miles of service pipe lay beneath the sidewalk carrying steam to an estimated 100
000 commercial and residential buildings and for good purpose 81.9 percent of new york city's
heating system in large buildings still use steam power including many famous landmarks such as the
empire state building the chrysler building rockefeller center and grand central terminal
with a total of seven major steam plants placed throughout the city the inner workings of this
system are nothing short of incredible so join me today as we discover the history of
new york city's many steam lines i'm your host ryan socas and you're watching it's history
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the story of steam power is incredibly deep rooted not only in america but throughout the
entire world so let's start this off by taking a trip across both the sea and time to ancient
rome and greece setting the framework for the systems we know today would you believe that
ancient romans and greeks first used steam power over 2 000 years ago just before the fall of the
ancient roman empire they were on the cusp of developing steam power for the first time in
history though the marvels of steam power weren't widely used until the incredible boom of the 1800s
they were shockingly close to realizing the steam engine long thought and possible at
this time heron otherwise known as the hero of alexandria the woefully overlooked forefather of
steam power technology created the first recorded steam engine in all of history and his most famous
invention of all the iola pile or windball at the time he regarded it as little more than a novelty
rather than a remarkable advancement in technology heron of alexandria was a greek mathematician
and inventor with considerable knowledge about the mathematics and engineering of ancient egypt
amongst his most important written works in mathematics and mechanics there was matrika
lost until 1896 a compendium consisting of three books filled with geometric rules and formulas
heron gathered from multiple sources all the way back to ancient babylon and the list goes on
evidence suggests that he also invented the first vending machine the syringe and wind powered
machines but let's focus in on the iola pile as mentioned well there is little evidence supporting
the idea that the iola pile was used practically especially considering heron's own words
against its practicality this incredible machine was still widely regarded as a technological
wonder of its time in the roman world it consisted of a sealed cauldron of water placed over a heat
source as the water started to boil steam would rise up into the empty sphere through pipes the
steam then escaped through two bent tubes on the ball causing it to spin medium.com states that
the device demonstrated that steam could be used to convert heat into work and that its principle
is similar to the modern day jet propulsion many have hypothesized that had this invention been
perceived from a different angle the ancients would have been able to technologically advance
in ways that we would not even comprehend from today's perspective at a minimum they would have
provided pressurized water and hot water for baths of the roman nobility or perhaps there
would have been far-reaching ramifications such as pressurized water for entire neighborhoods
complemented by steam-powered water pumps i mean really consider it they were already using
coal so with this steam technology all they needed to do was think up the piston cylinder some valves
you would have had an engine some historians speculate that there was simply a lack of
motivation to go that extra mile you see the roman world operated primarily through slave labor using
captives as cheap and abundant labor sources they also used domesticated animals and sources from
wind and water all of these seemingly satisfied their needs and wants so although the aerial pile
was a cool curious little mechanism the romans saw no railroads no steamed powered chariots and no
roman industrial revolution it wouldn't be until 1698 that steam power would really fall under the
limelight you see the english man thomas savory released a patent for a hand-operated pump that
used condensed steam to provide suction to rise the water out of mines this pump was made up of
closed vessels filled with water pressurized steam was then introduced to the vessel which would
force the water up to higher levels when the water was expelled the steam was condensed
via a sprinkler this produced a vacuum that drew up more water through the valve below
savory assemble two containing vessels within the same apparatus to keep the effect as consistent as
possible thanks to his advertising he had enough clients to manufacture his engine to supply water
to large buildings however it was also incredibly limited as to be expected for such early machinery
the results could be notably weak in 1712 an englishman named thomas newcomen developed a
far more efficient steam engine this steam engine separated the condensing steam from the water and
then rapid advancement in this technology followed by 1776 a third generation of these engines were
put to work rising water from new york city's waterworks though there were downsides namely
just how big and expensive these type of engines were so although they were valuable in draining
mines and providing water to large cities they were not economically viable outside of those two
functions even back then many large manufacturers got their water power along the eastern seaboard
and didn't have quite as significant need as assumed furthermore the newcomen engine was much
too bulky to transport all the same advancement continued and by the time the 19th century rolled
around in the united states steam power had truly started picking up traction in fact by 1838 steam
power was widely accepted across the country the federal census of 1838 counted over 3 000
steam engines 350 were located on locomotives 800 were on steamboats and 1860 were stationary
these stationary steam engines ran mills worked on farms and plantations they rised water for cities
effectively transforming america's industries so by then most american cities produced
used and exported steam engines and by now you may be wondering at what point these engines became
intertwined with the heating systems the state of new york was deep in the shift towards steam power
and the next leap for new york's steam technology came in 1877 in lockport a hydraulic engineer and
inventor named birdsell holly the inventor of the silsby steam fire engine took a particular
interest in the idea of heating buildings by steam which would have solved a massive problem for the
rapidly expanding state in 1877 he formed the holley steam combination company in lockport
to generate steam from a boiler and distribute it to the lockport businesses and homes and although
the idea was grand he had difficulty attracting investors so holly fully determined dug out a
trench and ran a steam line 100 feet from his own house to an adjacent property in lockport to prove
the system's efficiency an audience was invited to watch the disbursement of the heat generated
the test with his experimental heating system was successful it worked without a hitch and
as a result not only holly but many others were fully convinced of the feasibility of a wide-scale
central heating system with time heating systems that used wood insulated pipes were installed in
city businesses thanks to the many improvements holly continued to make he was granted over 150
additional patents between 1876 and 1878. this quickly sparked a growing countrywide fascination
with this incredible innovation so much so that central steam heat spread like wildfire across new
york and the united states so ultimately holly's firm was brought into the american district's
steam heat corporation due to this increasing demand before the end of the century many large
cities had their own district heating companies in order to avoid the fundamental inefficiencies
of heating buildings with individual small boilers holly made use of the large central boiler plant
that carried steam under moderate pressure to a group of buildings that surrounded in the district
the steam would pass through a loop of supply and return mains which were heavily insulated to
reduce heat loss at greater thermal efficiency customers were then charged for the amount of
steam consumed in order to control and monitor steam flows to its delivery points the holley
system used various kinds of steam regulating and measurement devices all of which were
designed and produced by holly and his company holly's invention attracted many developers and
investors from new york city one of which was wallace andrews who was the first to bring this
incredible system to the city solving one of the biggest challenges that came along with the new
york skyscraper boom drawing from holly's concept of district energy and applying it to manhattan's
tall buildings for heat without excessive use of energy the new york steam company opened the
original new york steam system to service in 1882 it was made up of three miles of mains that served
62 customers though over the next 54 years it would expand to far greater lengths by the time
khan had purchased the system in 1936 it had reached 65 miles of maine including six generating
units that served around 2 500 buildings in total and there were many hurdles along the way
on march the 11th 1888 one of the worst blizzards in all of american history struck the northeast
hundreds were killed and up to 55 inches of snow blanketed the area new york city itself
was rendered all but powerless in the face of massive snow drifts and winds according
to history.com these drifts reached up to the second story of some buildings this massive
blizzard spelt disaster for numerous above ground lines namely water mains gas lines telephone lines
and of course the steam lines which became inaccessible for repair during the blizzard
due to the dangers of walking out on the street people really stayed home a reported 30 in 1 000
people made it to the new york stock exchange to go to work that day though it certainly wasn't for
a lack of trying because of this storm destroying countless new york city lines the city decided to
build its infrastructure underground the hopes of protecting it should another natural disaster like
this blizzard of 1888 ever occur again at this time steam lines were installed in conjunction
with the electricity lines while coal burning chimneys might have otherwise to fill the skyline
putting off large amounts of soot the enterprise of underground new york city steam lines allowed
it to cut down on air pollution more efficiently this effect was furthered after its acquisition by
con edison which evolved the system from coal to heavy fuel and oil to finally natural gas
and you will not believe how large the systems become so now it's time to get into specifics
steam is generated in boilers at steam stations using the drinking water supply as a source the
water is tunneled to boilers where fuel is burned to raise the temperature to around 1 000 degrees
fahrenheit converting the water into steam using this method one gallon of water is converted into
approximately eight pounds of steam which is then channeled for distribution at about 350 degrees
fahrenheit the network of underground pipes then delivers this steam directly to customers
from the steam plant service pipes which connect to the customer and branch off from the main
range from 2 to 16 inches in diameter while the mains which are larger pipes that extend
directly out from the steam plant can range anywhere between 8 and 36 inches in diameter
this range ensures that the steam system is prepared to handle different pressures
to pump steam to people that are further away generating plants pump steam through higher
pressured steam mains at the pressure of about 400 pounds per square inch whereas steam plants
that are closer to their customers provide steam directly through distribution systems
at a pressure below 200 pounds per square inch this system is also incredibly versatile able
to cool buildings as well offering immense relief to the energy grid which can be overwhelmed in the
summer seasons furthermore the use of steam helps to reduce carbon emissions according to the vice
president of steam operations at con edison part of the uniqueness of the new york system is that
it is the largest in the world if you took the next nine steam systems and added them together
new york's is still the largest over 100 miles of steam pipe power around 2 000 buildings and
the largest 300 of these buildings are over half a million square feet new york university currently
has the largest privately run co-generation plant in the city the first year of its use alone
saved them five million dollars and brought over a thirty percent reduction in emissions
the new york steam system produces one-third less co2 per pound delivered as opposed to on-site
boilers which burn 10 percent more oil furthermore it offsets around 1.5 million tons of co2 annually
this system saves countless landlords from paying high prices to keep and maintain their own boiler
it also economizes real estate space for example a 600 square foot building in new york would need
approximately 1 500 square feet dedicated just to the boiler alone in buildings such as hospitals
the use of steam power allows for more electrical energy to be allocated towards life-saving
equipment or massive devices such as an mri machine so now let me explain to you how the steam
gets from the plant to the hospital the steam system runs from the financial district where
the first steam plant is located it runs north through manhattan on both sides of central park
on the west side it extends to 96th street on the east side it extends to 89th street and while the
lines themselves do not extend through brooklyn the brooklyn navy yard has a co-generation plant
that is transported into the manhattan steam grid through pipes under the east river that
con edison buys steam from seven different steam plants supply the new york city steam system
five of these plants 59th street 74th street 60th street ravenswood and hudson avenue produce steam
exclusively the remaining two east river station and brooklyn naval yard are co-generation partners
and they're incredibly energy efficient as they use just one source of fuel for their operations
to produce both steam and electricity on average the steam system boilers convert 125 000 gallons
of water into one million pounds of steam per hour of operation almost 10 million pounds of steam are
pumped through the underground mains in the frigid winter but that number is nothing compared to the
30 billion pounds of steam put through the system every year 54 of the customers are in
the commercial sector seven percent are hospitals six percent are hotels and two percent are museums
whereas residential buildings make up 19 of all customers so what about those iconic orange and
white steam stacks we mentioned earlier just kind of peppered around the city what is their purpose
well they direct steam leaks or vapor conditions away from pedestrians and traffic this keeps the
hot steam away from the people walking on the streets the stacks are placed there because
the situation has been identified as controllable non-dangerous and an issue that's being worked on
and although these leaks are nothing to really be concerned about there have been a few pretty
scary situations one example occurred on july the 18th 2007 when a steam pipe explosion occurred
near grand central terminal a massive geyser of hot steam rose from midtown manhattan injuring
many and killing one the cause is still under debate many believe that segment of the system
was not properly maintained despite the fact that only eight years prior it received a 200 million
dollar upgrade this shows that even despite the innovation of the system it might be incredibly
dangerous without proper maintenance or care to ensure that it complies with safety standards
so if you didn't realize it before watching this video the steam you see leaking out of
new york city streets are steam leaks from a very old system that powers one of america's
most modern cities hit that subscribe button for more check out our members area and don't
forget to see our video about chicago's fake buildings this is ryan socash signing off