Fiber optic bid

[willdalrymple]

I got an opputunity to bid on pulling fiber optic cable. I was wondering if any one has any experience with this. whats the best way to bid per foot per run.
any help would be appreciated

Thanks willdalrymple

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

Inside or outside plant?

[willdalrymple]

thru manholes and coiled up for utility perssonnel to terminate. pulls range from 750 feet to 2400 feet.

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

Are you sure about that "pulls range from 750 - 2400 feet?" Normally, fiber cable is laced through manholes, with slack coils remaining at pulling points or in strategic locations, and it's never cut.

Step 1 in the process is ensuring you have a viable route, researched and verified, which is measured and pre-roped.

Step 2 is knowing the cable length plus slack coils, which need to be at least 70-80' of looped cable out of the ground so that splice trucks can eventually splice on or off the cable.

Often, plastic innerduct is utilized to facilitate the pull and protect the fiber cable from the sidewalls of concrete ducts.

On long runs, the reel carrier is typically located in the center, with 1/2 the cable pulled in one direction. After that 1/2 is laid, the rest of the reel is unloaded into a "figure-8" on the ground, and when the begining (end of the reel) is readhced, it's laced through in the other direction.

This method results in a completely continuious cable run without any splicing. It differs from telco trunks in that telco trunks are rarely pulled further than a few hundred feet, due to their weight.

[Engineer83]

Another thing to keep in mind is the safety aspect. Depending on where this is to be done, you may have to shut down lanes of traffic. You may also need a harness, tripod, ventilation and an air monitor for confined space entry. If you don't have the equipment, rentals can be pretty expensive.