A utility tunnel is a space for wires, conduits, pipes, and other conveyances used in the delivery of utilities with enough room for a human to enter. Modern pipes and cables need less attention and space than older varieties, so the construction of utility tunnels declined in the late 20th century. Modern underground utilities tend to be enclosed in pipe chases, which are not large enough for people.

Steam pipe

Steam pipe

Steam pipe may refer to:* The steam pipe of a steam locomotive passes the steam from the boiler to the cylinders.* District heating, a system for distributing heat.** New York City steam system, a district heating system in New York City....

s, in particular, tend to be housed in large tunnels for easy access by workmen. A number of university campuses have a complex network of steam pipes; student exploration thereof is referred to as roof and tunnel hacking

Roof and tunnel hacking

Roof and tunnel hacking is the unauthorized exploration of roof and utility tunnel spaces. The term carries a strong collegiate connotation, stemming from its use at MIT, where the practice has a long history. It is a form of urban exploration...

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See also

• Common utility duct
  Common utility duct
  A common utility duct, sometimes called a common utility conduit, is any structure – above, on, or below ground – that carries more than two types of public utility lines...
  
  
• Jefferies tube
  Jefferies tube
  Jefferies tubes, in the Star Trek fictional universe, are narrow tunnels or corridors that provide access to critical starship systems. They can be vertically or horizontally oriented, and form a network that allows travel throughout large volumes of a starship even when the turbolifts are not...
  
  
• Steam tunnel incident
  Steam tunnel incident
  James Dallas Egbert III was a student at Michigan State University who was incorrectly alleged to have disappeared into the school's steam tunnels for reasons related to the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons ....
  
  
• Utilidor
  Utilidor
  A utilidor is a utility corridor built underground or aboveground to carry utility lines such as electricity, water and sewer. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television and telephone cables are also sometimes carried...
  
  
• Utility vault
  Utility vault
  A utility vault is an underground room providing access to subterranean public utility equipment, such as valves for water or natural gas pipes, or switchgear for electrical or telecommunications equipment....
  
  
• Dartford Cable Tunnel
  Dartford Cable Tunnel
  The Dartford Cable Tunnel is a £11,000,000 tunnel upstream of the Dartford Crossing built in 2003-4. Its diameter is ~3m. It is designed to carry and allow for maintenance of 380kV National Grid electrical cable beneath the Thames; it is accessible by foot as a crossing of the Thames, but by...