fibre install at end of driveway, transitioning from conduit to microtrench

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fnarg7

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#248787 9-Apr-2019 22:36

Hi,

Will they make a hash of this fibre install at the end of our driveway?

Click to see full size

The neighbour at the back of driveway is having fibre installed. Marais company has already installed conduits from the pole to the driveway post, you can see the three white caps over top of the conduit ends. A plan came in the mail for everyone on our driveway (Category 2). This is in Onehunga/OneTreeHill, installer is UCG.

The plan says they'll microtrench 3x2f down the driveway - sounds ok. (driveway is to the left in photo, the rock wall is streetfront where white concrete is footpath that Marais re-laid)

My concern is the transition from the pre-installed conduits at the driveway post, into the microtrench. Are they likely to leave an exposed loop rising out of the conduit and then dropping into the microtrench? or will they do it properly and break/cut the concrete here and re-lay, to ensure that it is ENTIRELY underground at this point?

Wheelbarrow01

1723 posts

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Chorus

#2214030 10-Apr-2019 00:08

They will do it properly ie entirely underground.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Jase2985

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#2214045 10-Apr-2019 05:27

Wheelbarrow01:

They will do it properly ie entirely underground.

will, how confident are you on that one?

given the state of other installs that have been posted on here

Chorusnz

430 posts

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Chorus

#2214291 10-Apr-2019 11:03

We would expect the team, where possible, to trench and bury the ruggedized such that there is no exposed cable. However that would likely require getting the cutting tools in close to that post which may not be practical.

In which case they will have to extend the conduit with a piece of flex pipe to protect the loop as it comes out and into the trench. There should be no loose ruggedized loop from the existing ducts into the Micro trench.

If you would like to send us a Private Message with your address I can look at the proposed plan in more depth. ^Richard

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#2214298 10-Apr-2019 11:10

Hahaha... so I read that as "if the installers can't be bothered breaking up the concrete, they will just use flexi to bridge the gap"

Why am I not surprised...

fnarg7

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2214357 10-Apr-2019 13:13

Thanks @Chorusnz. I've sent you a message.

fnarg7

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2214665 10-Apr-2019 21:11

@Chorusnz

Richard, thank you very much for your information.

I think the Marais conduit goes the short distance to the hand hole and then from there further to the pole (under the path). Could the install team just skip the conduit end point and trench up to near the hand hole and then drill down 45deg into the hand hole for the final few centimeters? I figure the only way to have any chance of achieving this would be to be there on the day to encourage them to do so.

The overhead line from pole to Unit1 appears to be a single loom with multiple strands, so would there be enough pairs in a single fibre+copper cable to cover off all the back units for copper?

I had asked on the phone why they couldn't just do all our fibre via overhead as already there with copper, but for some reason they'll only go up to the first building termination on Unit1 eaves and not past there.

Kent

________

Hey Kent, thanks for passing that through. It’s always easier to talk specifics when I can see the plans.

I feel there is a little bit of ambiguity around the ducts because our plans show the Fibre coming down from the pole to the Hand Hole (green lid) and getting slot cut from there. Yet the description talks about using 50mm duct which I understand is the conduit you got Marais to lay under the sidewalk? It goes all the way to the pole?

If so, I think the install team are going to have to use a flexy conduit to loop the ruggedized out of those ends into the slot trench. Getting a concrete cutter in there is going to be quite impractical.

Under the house will not be done in conduit. We only use conduit for bends and specific exposed areas that could be damaged. The cable is ruggedized and quite strong. It’s designed to be tacked to a firm surface and protects the Fibres inside.

Reading the description, UCG’s plan is to put ETP’s on the back of each property for future connection. I think the designer has made a small error there in translating the actual plan into a graphic.

Unit 1 is going to have Fibre supplied overhead, like the existing copper. When they request Fibre we will replace the existing Fibre with a hybrid Fibre/copper cable and so your copper service should not be affected. ^Richard

____

[plans]

Also, are they likely to run tidy conduit under the house? (crouching height access).

The photos for ETP locations show rear of the units, but the plan shows front of the units, but I trust they'll figure something out once they put the primary ETP on side of my unit.

Further down the track; I currently get copper via an overhead from Unit1, so wouldn't want to lose that when Unit1 gets fibre and they try and pull the overheads down.

Chorusnz

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Chorus

#2215093 11-Apr-2019 15:44

Hey Kent, that certainly sounds like a good option to me. Although I will admit I’m no technician (my own concrete cutting skills probably leave something to be desired 😋).

The hybrid cables consist of a Fibre conduit and single copper pair so if it’s a whole bundle then we aren’t going to be able to replace it. Most likely we will have to install a new Fibre line for unit 1 and leave the existing copper to support the properties that have not yet made the switch.

Regarding taking the Fibre overhead for your whole ROW, It’s a good question. A lot of the copper network is so old it was never properly documented (especially customer lead-ins). In this case we have no details of the existing and so our designers have made a decision that the best option is to go underground. ^Richard