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While fiber optic cables to
the home are designed to provide access to the latest
that technology has to offer, like high speed broadband
internet and hundreds of high quality, high definition
television programs, the tools that are often used to
install those cables are often very basic. One
in particular, the pneumatic piercing tool, has been performing
just these types of service installations for over 40 years. While
the accuracy of the tool has improved since the early days,
the concept behind it has not and today’s crews are
improving their efficiency, lowering the restoration costs
and generating good public relations through the use of
this piece of classic trenchless technology.
Verizon is one of the major
telecommunication companies pushing fiber-to-the-premises
(FTTP) services. The
company began implementing its FTTP program in early 2002. Since
then the program continues to expand and now includes projects
in several states and large cities like Tampa, FL. In
May of this year, Verizon announced that an initial group
of more than 40,000 Tampa area households were now able
to receive its product offerings through its all-digital
fiber optic network. The company had already deployed
over 3 million feet of fiber in the Tampa area. By
the time the program is scheduled to be complete, five
years from now, over 9 million feet of fiber optic cable
will be installed.
Installing the conduit that
houses the cable is part of Stuart Greenberg’s job. As owner of Arrow Construction,
Dunedin, FL, his crews are installing conduit in various
locations in Florida, helping Verizon complete its FTTP
program. The piercing tool plays a major role in
daily operations. Greenberg has been using piercing
tools for over 15 years. Over the last five years
his crews have been using them on a regular basis. For
the Verizon project, they are using them daily. He
said, “On a good day we’re trying to install
1,000 feet of conduit. If I could use the piercing
tool all the time, I would. With a directional drill
if we get ten (10) 40-foot shots that’s a good day. With
piercing tools we can do over twice as much work. We
can do 20 in a day with the missiles.”
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Piercing tool specialist Jason
Land from trenchless equipment manufacturer TT Technologies,
Aurora, Ill, supplies Grundomat piercing tools and other
pieces of trenchless equipment to Arrow Construction. According to Land in addition
to piercing tool productivity, minimal disruption is a
key benefit of the trenchless piercing tool. He said, “Restoration
is a time consuming and expensive process. It can
make up almost 80% of the cost of an installation project. With
the cost of restoration so high, trenchless options are
extremely attractive, piercing tools especially. Plus
the trenchless application is ideal for these last mile
operations. Everyday Arrow Construction crews are
working in established neighborhoods with driveways, sidewalks
and landscaping. Not
only are they saving money and
time, they’re building goodwill
with the residents.”
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Arrow Construction partners Steve Vance, Miguel Esquivel
and Stuart Greenberg have over 18 years combined experience
working with telephone, CATV, fiber optics and power. Arrow
Construction crews have been working on the Verizon FTTP
program for two years already. According to Greenberg
the project has kept them busy. He said, “We’ve
been putting in 8 to 10 hours days and half day Saturdays
as well. Our regular activities include stitch
boring primarily in front yards and going under driveways. We’ve
gotten so many compliments on our work on this project
and we let our work speak for itself. Now we’ve
been flooded with calls for other projects. It’s
almost at the point where we’re having to
turn
down work!”
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Typically
piercing tools range in size from as small as 1.75 inches
in diameter up to 7 inches and can bore accurately up 150
feet in length. A
minimal crew compliment is needed to operate a piercing
tool and only small entry and exits pits are required for
most projects. The
tools can usually be fitted with different types of cones
or heads for various soil conditions. In addition,
piercing tools can be used to perform a standard bore
or they can be outfitted with a range of pipe and cable
pulling adapters/accessories to pull in product pipe,
conduit or cable while boring.
Land said, “The Grundomat is very versatile. It
can be used for other applications like pipe bursting and
pipe ramming. Because the piercing tool can be used
in
so many ways, it represents one of the most useful trenchless
construction tools available. Contractors and utilities
can get a lot out of their piercing tools. For Arrow
Construction the tools
get put to the test everyday.”
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Accuracy, which was once an
issue with the piercing tools of 40 years ago, is not
an issue with today's reciprocating chisel head, spring-loaded
piercing tools, like the Grundomat. Greenberg
said, “The guys keep it simple. They line it
up, use a level, and then shoot it. We recently bored
under a parking lot, two bores at 80 feet and two at 88
feet. The pit was about two-shovel-lengths wide. And
we hit it like a directional bore. People associated
with the project were telling us, ‘You can’t
shoot over 40 feet with those missiles.’ I
said, ‘Well, we completed two of them before you
even got here!’ We’ve proved them wrong time
and time again.”
According to Land, the Verizon
project is giving the Arrow Construction crews the opportunity
to use the piercing tools to the fullest. He said, “Arrow has
two 12-man crews boring under driveways and yards everyday. Basically
crews are installing single, double and triple conduit
runs of inch and a quarter polyethylene. They probably
have over a dozen piercing tools and they’re working
them constantly.”
Arrow crews are installing conduit
for bores and path. Greenberg
explained, “For the path, which is the main line
that feeds the neighborhood, we’re performing what’s
called stitch boring with the piercing tool. We dig
small pits on either side of the driveway. We missile
from one side to the other, then missile the yard to the
next driveway pit. The shots are usually 30 to 40
feet long. With small pits, you’ve eliminated
a large portion of restoration.
For a majority of the path work,
Arrow crews use 2-inch through 3.75-inch diameter pneumatic
piercing tools. Typically
the piercing tool pulls in mule tape. Once the run
is complete, crews pull the conduit in with the mule tape. In
certain circumstances they will complete the bore, then
attach the conduit to the front of the tool and back the
tool through the boring, pulling in the conduit. Depending
on soil conditions boring times range from a few minutes
to a half an hour. For the bores, under streets we
use a Grundodl
4x directional
drill also manufactured by TT Technologies.”
The Arrow crews, however, are
not installing the fiber themselves. They are simply installing the conduit
that protects the fiber. Greenberg said the installation
of the fiber usually occurs within a week, after the conduit
has been completed and inspected. By that time, Arrow Construction
crews have moved on to begin boring in the next neighborhood. |
