OT: Below grade fiber interconnect points

Wed Nov 13 20:05:58 UTC 2013

On Wed, 13 Nov 2013, Roy hockett wrote:

> Has anyone ever used a below grade vault for housing fiber cross connects?
>
> We have to move a fiber interconnect facility due to the current 
> building being demolished.  If you have I would be interested in talking 
> to you.  If there are more appropriate lists, I would appreciate any 
> suggestions.

When you say "below grade vault", do you mean something that's only 
accessible through a manhole?

I haven't done this specifically, however if the vault does not have a 
controlled environment, you could be dealing with massive headaches 
related to dust/dirt contamination, moisture penetration, etc.  I work in 
a large-campus .edu environment, so I'm some of the headaches you're 
probably trying to avoid.  Also, be aware that access to the vault could 
be an issue.  There are OSHA regs related to what sort of training and 
safety equipment someone who will be working in an underground vault must 
have.

I'm assuming that the fiber will be cross-connected to a new location 
prior to the building being demolished.

Not knowing your outside plant or circumstances, would it be feasible to 
fusion-splice a new tail onto the fiber that was going to the building 
that's being demolished, or (ideally) pulling a new piece of fiber to the 
new building, so you don't have to deal with potentially dodgy splices?

jms