2 Comments Posted by MStone

Although I would need to see it to confirm, I strongly suspect this is the steam line to the boiler feedwater pumps. Since the 60s, BFPs have generally been driven by electrical motors. However, in the early days, steam was extracted from the intermediate stages of the steam turbine and used to power the BPFs. (This is why they kiind of look like mini-steam turbines - the previous shot shows this a little better). Since the pipe has an expansion loop (needed because it is very thick walled alloy steel-chormium pile and not flexible during thermal expansion and contraction as others have pointed out) and insulated, it is most likely a steam line.

Neat site; it appears I'm abit behind the main following. Having built power plants all my life, I believe these are the traveling water screens that remove debris, small fish, and the like from the cooling water used in the condenser under the steam turbine. The cooling ater never mixes with the steam from the turbine, but is condensed back to water and pumped back to the boiler. The traveling water screens dump the debris into a tray that is cleaned o na regular basis. Having been abandoned, the cleaning process halted and plant matter that required a little light and a moist environment has thrived, and thus the green. Usually these are below the level of water inthe Bay, so the intake and discharege tunnels and thus the water screens would always have a source of water even during abamnonment.