The lunar landscape that makes a drive through downtown Baltimore an urban off-roading excursion may soon be over.
Trigen Corp., the company that owns the steam pipes beneath many downtown streets, is committing $6 million to upgrade the system, promising to fix pipes that are partially responsible for much of the uncomfortable curvature plaguing many city thoroughfares.
“We are committed to the city now and in future,” Trigen CEO Lance Ahearn told the BaltimoreCity Board of Estimates. “Baltimore Street will be fixed before Labor Day.”
The steam pipes, almost 100 years old, provide heat and hot water for about 240 buildings downtown. Leaks from Trigen pipes, as well as the city?s water system, combine to cause surface pressure that breaks and cracks paving.
Leif Dormsjo, of the city Department of Transportation, said the result is fast-crumbling roads.
“Normally a road life will be 20 years. Because of the steam, we?re repaving a road sometimes one year later,” he said.
To fix it, Trigen is committing $6.6 million to a multiphased plan to upgrade the system, providing better insulation to prevent leaks.
“We?ve worked with the city to address all of these issues. We?ve stepped forward to say, if it?s our steam lines, we?re going to fix them,” said John Gibson, a vice president with the company.
