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Autility tunnel,utility corridor, orutilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity,steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities likefiber optics,cable television, andtelephone cables are also sometimes carried. One may also be referred to as aservices tunnel,services trench,services vault, orcable vault. Smaller cable containment is often referred to as acable duct orunderground conduit.Direct-buried cable (installed usingtrenches) is a major alternative to ducts or tunnels.
Utility tunnels are common in very cold climates where direct burial below thefrost line is not feasible (such as inAlaska, where the frost line is often more than 18 ft (5.5 m) below the surface, which isfrozen year round). They are also built in places where thewater table is too high to bury water and sewer mains, and whereutility poles would be too unsightly or pose a danger (like inearthquake proneTokyo). Tunnels are also built to avoid the disruption caused by recurring construction, repair and upgrading of cables and pipes in direct burial trenches.[1]
Utility tunnels are also often common on large industrial, institutional, or commercial sites, where multiple large-scale services infrastructure (gas, water, power, heat, steam, compressed air, telecommunications cable, etc.) are distributed around the site to multiple buildings, without impeding vehicular or pedestrian traffic above ground. Due to the nature of these services, they may require regular inspection, repair, maintenance, or replacement, and therefore accessible utility tunnels are preferred instead of direct burying of the services in the ground.
Utility tunnels range in size from just large enough to accommodate the utility being carried, to very large tunnels that can also accommodate human and even vehicular traffic. They may also attracturban explorers, who enjoy investigating hidden complex networks of spaces.
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Utility tunnels are often installed in large industrial plants, as well as large institutions, such as universities, hospitals, research labs, and other facilities managed in common. Shared facilities, such asdistrict heating, usesuperheated steam pipes routed through utility tunnels. On some university campuses, such as theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, many of the buildings are connected via large underground passages to allow easy movement of people and equipment.
Some municipalities, such asPrague in theCzech Republic, have installed extensive underground utility tunnels, to allow installation and maintenance of utility lines and equipment without disrupting the historic streets above.
Some of the largest and most famous utility tunnels are atDisneytheme parks. They were first built forWalt Disney World'sMagic Kingdom inFlorida. Smaller utilidor systems are built under the central section ofEpcot's Future World, primarily beneathSpaceship Earth andInnoventions, and formerly atPleasure Island.Disneyland also has a small utilidor throughTomorrowland. The utilidors are a part of Disney's "backstage" (behind-the-scenes) area. They allow Disney employees ("cast members") to perform park support operations, such as trash removal, out of the sight of guests.
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Utilidors are above-ground enclosed utility conduits that are used in larger communities in the northern polar region wherepermafrost does not allow the normal practice of burying water and sewer pipes underground. They can in particular be found inInuvik, Northwest Territories[2] andIqaluit, Nunavut.[3] Not all older homes are connected, and these must rely on trucks to deliver water and remove sewage. Most homes in rural Alaska (off the road system) are not equipped with plumbing and require fresh water and waste to be transported by personal vehicle such assnowmobile orfour-wheeler ATV. Villages with utilidors are considered more advanced.
Utilidors may also be used to carry fuel lines, such as natural gas. They are not normally used to carry wiring for electric, telephone, and television service, which are usually suspended from poles.
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The advantages of utility tunnels are the reduction of maintenancemanholes, one-time relocation, and lessexcavation and repair, compared to separate cable ducts for each service. When they are well mapped, they also allow rapid access to all utilities without having to dig access trenches or resort to confused and often inaccurate utility maps.
The following table compares the features of utility networks in single purpose buriedtrenches vs. the features of common ducts or tunnels:
| Utility tunnels | Direct burial |
|---|---|
| Higher initial capital cost for construction of tunnels | Cheaper initial capital cost of burying individual infrastructure |
| Easy location of infrastructure | Difficult location of infrastructure |
| Fast maintenance and replacement | Slow maintenance and replacement |
| Less roadworks and traffic as maintenance can be done without disruption of traffic | Increased roadworks and traffic |
| Reduced manholes on roads. Single manhole for all infrastructure | Large numbers of manholes for various infrastructure types |
| Easy to coordinate between different infrastructure | Hard to coordinate projects between infrastructure providers |
| Easy access for maintenance, upgrades and expansion of infrastructure | Huge labour costs for regular re-burial |
| Shared initial capital costs between infrastructure providers (ie, water, gas, electric) | Risk of damage to co-located infrastructure (eg: pipes, wiring & cables) |
| Low thermal conductivity of air in tunnels allows heat transmission with less insulation and cheaper standoffs |
Many examples of utility tunnels are found inJapan, where government officials have sought ways to reduce the catastrophic effects of earthquakes in theirtectonically active country. Their use, however, is not limited to that country, and there are many examples of such utility tunnels. These include:
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