Call before you dig

[kenmbz]

We had a new fiber run down the side of our driveway, conduit orange, fiber is black.

When we had them mark for a change to our cable run from box to house, the only line mismarked was for the cable

When they showed up, I showed them the gas line , which I had marked with the aluminum tape about 6" above the gas line. That tape idea is great, easy to find and will come up in a strip if hit.

And also showed them where the cable run actually was located.

Sure enough I was right, they were happy and used the old cable to run the new one.

The underground power marks looked like the guy was drunk and were all over the side and into the driveway. Some of the marks almost to the center of the asphalt.
I hope they are deep enough when we get the driveway repaved!

 

[Gord Baker]

I have 5 fiber conduits running through my front yard, I watched them plow them in years ago. They connect a local switch to one a couple of miles away. So last spring I was going to replace my mail box post, an old uglt, rusty H beam stuck in the ground about 3 feet deep with a 4" tube post powder coated Kubota orange, and since it's been such a long time since the fiber was installed, I didn't remember just how far from the post they were. I called the phone company, they said call 811. Called 811, they said they only locate gas and electric services, call the phone company. Called the phone company back and explained what 811 said, they said the fiber wasn't theirs, call 811. Called 811 again, they came out and located my gas and electric services which are 100 feet from the mail box post. I went out and asked the 811 guy who I need to contact about the fiber, he said he didn't know.
So I pulled the H beam out with the Kubota and relocated the hole a foot farther back from the road, using a post hole digger. I didn't run into any of the fiber conduits, but I know they are there close.
I never have found out who to contact to locate those fiber runs.

There is always a metal conductor included in the bundle for locates. You took a very big chance. You could have just cleaned up and painted the H beam.

 

[BravoXray]

There is always a metal conductor included in the bundle for locates. You took a very big chance. You could have just cleaned up and painted the H beam.

When the county repaved the road last spring, they requested that I relocate the post as they were widening the pavement. So that's what I did. I was going to replace the ugly H-beam post anyway. I did use a hand operated post hole digger, not a powered one, so if I did find the conduits, I wouldn't have damaged them. I still wonder why no one seems to know who to contact to locate the buried fiber.

 

[4570Man]

There is always a metal conductor included in the bundle for locates. You took a very big chance. You could have just cleaned up and painted the H beam.

They ran fiber down my street a few months ago and I didn’t see any metal trace wire going in with it. They left the scraps that they cut off the end of the run laying in the yard and I didn’t see any trace wire with that either.

 

[JLinOK]

If you cut this cable, i am told it is $800,000 per hour till it is back in operation. This is a fiber optic cable the runs between Houston and Atlanta. It is a main east west internet cable. It took about 12 hours to repair.

A contractor my company hired cut it. They called 811 and lumen said there was no cable there. It is luman's fault since they didn't locate it. My guess is that it will lay in that yard for months. That driveway in the distance, it is about two inches deep. Such a valuable cable, such little care.

We would have made a permanent repair no matter how long it took. Given the importance,we would have laid a temporary cable and then would have started the permanent fix and respliced at midn

 

[JLinOK]

If you cut this cable, i am told it is $800,000 per hour till it is back in operation. This is a fiber optic cable the runs between Houston and Atlanta. It is a main east west internet cable. It took about 12 hours to repair.

A contractor my company hired cut it. They called 811 and lumen said there was no cable there. It is luman's fault since they didn't locate it. My guess is that it will lay in that yard for months. That driveway in the distance, it is about two inches deep. Such a valuable cable, such little care.

We would have made a permanent repair no matter how long it took. Given the importance,we would have laid a temporary cable and then would have started the permanent fix and respliced at midnight. View attachment 2984601

When BluePeak moved into town I took their service and they came in with a little shaker and put my cable no more than 6 inches under my yard. I have run into it (not cut it) doing random yard work. My border collies will be into in under a minute if a mole digs near by. Really ruff shod work.

 

[KennyG]

When BluePeak moved into town I took their service and they came in with a little shaker and put my cable no more than 6 inches under my yard. I have run into it (not cut it) doing random yard work. My border collies will be into in under a minute if a mole digs near by. Really ruff shod work.

I think the drops to the house are considered disposable. At least that's the way it is for coax service here like Xfinity. Mine seems to be 2 to 3 inches deep and I've found it several times doing yard work. Apparently never damaged it enough to cause a problem.

 

[JeepHead]

I think the drops to the house are considered disposable. At least that's the way it is for coax service here like Xfinity. Mine seems to be 2 to 3 inches deep and I've found it several times doing yard work. Apparently never damaged it enough to cause a problem.

They're not disposable, just not critical lines. No damage is going to be caused to life or limb is they're cut in to. They don't need to be installed in conduit or protected from accidental damage.

 

[mike5511]

If you cut this cable, i am told it is $800,000 per hour till it is back in operation. This is a fiber optic cable the runs between Houston and Atlanta. It is a main east west internet cable. It took about 12 hours to repair.

A contractor my company hired cut it. They called 811 and lumen said there was no cable there. It is luman's fault since they didn't locate it. My guess is that it will lay in that yard for months. That driveway in the distance, it is about two inches deep. Such a valuable cable, such little care.

We would have made a permanent repair no matter how long it took. Given the importance,we would have laid a temporary cable and then would have started the permanent fix and respliced at midnight. View attachment 2984601

Not only will it lay there until it buried again, it may get replaced a couple of more times before it does get buried again! (Telephone contract work was the family business for many years.We did it all at one time or another.)

 

[Up to the Axles]

Connected at 10 gigabit as I can't be bothered to shell out a few thousand dollars for 100 gigabit gear.

You can't get anything useful for a residence with 10G, either. A friend was a VP at Amazon, and was upset his new apartment LAN was only 2.5Gb/s until I asked him how many mouse-clicks/second that was. He shut up.

We'll need 16K/3D television before you need that capacity. It's like buying some 500HP tractor to plow the driveway in Florida.