There was some strange weather Monday. Even though it was sunny and hot, it was raining…dirt?In the lawn outside Kottman Hall on west campus, a steam pipe broke, bursting through layers of dirt and spewing sand, clay and rubble 30 feet into the air, blanketing everything in the area. “I didn`t see any steam rising up before it went off. All of a sudden it went poof and I saw mud fly into the air and then all over the cars. It was like a geyser going off,” said Doug Beak, a research associate in the School of Natural Resources.Ohio State uses steam to humidify and heat the buildings in the winter and heat water in the buildings year-round. The system is extended to west campus from the main plant. The steam is sent from the main plant to the buildings at about 1400 degrees. After the steam is used it is sent back to the plant as 225-degree water in another pipeline. The steam is sent through a pipeline made of steel which can stand water temperatures in excess of 1400 degrees. The pipeline the water returns in is made of fiberglass and can withstand temperatures up to 400 degrees.”The department [Physical Facilities] has been working on the entire steam system for a few weeks, and has portions of it shut down,” said David Sweet, spokesman for Physical Facilities. “This caused a steam trap. A steam trap is when steam is sent out to do whatever and due to corrosion or matter in the system, steam is allowed into the return line.”Faculty, staff and students were parked in the parking lot south of Plumb Hall, but nobody was hurt in the explosion and a hole, about four feet in diameter, was caused. “I was happy that it was only mud and no structural damage was caused,” said Kyle Sharp, associate editor for the Section of Communications and Technology and victim of the mud geyser. “It looks like I finally have a reason to wash my car.”In response to new policy, all the fiberglass pipes are now being replaced with steel ones.