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My brother was killed in the 1989 Gramercy Park steam explosion. My family's loss is immeasurable. Back then there was the same questions about updating the steam system. The 1989 explosion was preceded by a water main break. There seems to be a connectin between flooding and steam explosions. Given that water main breaks happen often in NYC, and given that weather (as experienced yesterday) has become volatile, I can't see how NYC and Con Ed can say it would be inefficient to replace the old pipes. Do they mean inefficient or expensive? How many lives will it take before it is efficient???
We all viewed the FORCE of that steam hurtling out of that hole -- it is this kind of event that causes a quiet exodus from our fair city.
thank you for your great show.

Kate Ascher, I just want to say that I love your book, The Works. So fascinating!

How Can a $124.8 Million a Year CEO Make Health Care More Affordable?

I have seen that this is in the works for a long time.

Hi,

Just so Brian knows steam is not anachronistic, most nuclear power plants generate steam from the radioactive energy to drive huge turbines that produce the electricity. Also, all air conditioning requires pressurization (liquifaction) and then a pressure drop (vaporization) to produce the cooling effect. Steam is an excellent medium for this.

Yesterday morning on East 14th Street near the con ed plant and after the double blast of torrential rain -not only was the end of the Stuyvesant Town Loop (where it meets Avenue B) widely flooded, but 14th street close to Avenue C was filled with steam for half a block. A few weeks ago I noticed the smell of burning in this area right after a rain storm. Firetrucks were driving around as if looking for the source of the smell. It was coming from several manhole covers.

Should I be worried about an imminent explosion?

It is of course big news that a steam pipe blew in midtown but where was the (accurate)transit information about the subways from Queens into Manhattan yesterday? Where was the news coverage? The morning rain was devastating to Southern Queens subway service. There was no E, F or V train service from Southern Queens to Manhatten or back at all yesterday and there was not one iota of coverage about the inconvenience to the residents or about the actual status of the system. This is the second time at least in the last month that the system has flooded out. One has to wonder what is at play.

Last summer, I interned at Keyspan in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in the Gas Construction division. During the internship, I dealt routinely with the gas piping in Brooklyn and parts of Queens.

I'm assuming that the piping for gas is similar to that used for steam. Having said that, all of the pipes used for gas in these areas are all cast iron and outdated. However, as the guest said, it would be completely inefficient to replace all these pipes. Therefore, the company will wait until there is construction near a gas pipe or main, which could jeopardize the structural integrity of the pipe, and then after the necessary precautions have been taken, replace the pipe with either a new PVC or steel pipe. Hope this helps!

This is so great, this is a great guest answering so many questions about the NYC steam system (infrastructure) that I've always wanted to know about. As a child my uncle told me the steam was produced to melt the snow when it snowed and I've heard various "ideas" about why we have it. Thanks to your guest. Seems like many of the listeners are as interested as I.
I love this segment, thank you for it.

Does anybody know how frequently steam explosions take place underground in the 5 boroughs annually?

I've seen two in the past year, Brooklyn and Queens, where the manholes shot up high in the air, massive explosion. Nobody hurt that I could tell. Ignored by media.

What size steam pipe was it. major minor artery?