Cell sites

[jmsbrush]

Does anyone have a labor unit for, digging up about 8" to 12" of white rock on a cell site cutting the black matting under the rock to get to the earth then digging a trench? shovel wide about 24" deep.
This is in Fl. Thanks. I know this question might be a little difficult to answer, and probably would be answered best by experience.

 

[qcroanoke]

I don't have any times to give you but I will tell you to factor in time for digging around buried ground wires and cad welds.
Cell sites are one of the most grounded places you will ever see.
I think their motto is "If it don't move ground it"

 

[wireguru]

and watch out for buried fiber (and up your insurance coverage for the duration of the job)

(if my internet goes out, im gonna be looking for you)

 

[Greg Swartz]

I don't have any times to give you but I will tell you to factor in time for digging around buried ground wires and cad welds.
Cell sites are one of the most grounded places you will ever see.
I think their motto is "If it don't move ground it"

Good point...
We were going to do some work right by a radio station antenna.

The grounding went out in a mesh... as well as (semi) concentric circles for over 100 feet beyond the antenna.

Moral of the story: Be careful!

 

[LarryFine]

We were going to do some work right by a radio station antenna.

The grounding went out in a mesh... as well as (semi) concentric circles for over 100 feet beyond the antenna.

That probably has to do with what's known as the 'ground plane' of a transmitting antenna. It's the 'other half' of the antenna element.

 

[jmsbrush]

That probably has to do with what's known as the 'ground plane' of a transmitting antenna. It's the 'other half' of the antenna element.

That is correct! I have done quite a few cell phone sites. Grounding is insane.
Ground rings , Ground rods every six feet, everything is cad welded, then sprayed with Galv spray.

I was a Jw then, and it was a couple of years ago,I didn't pay much attention on how long it took to dig because every site was different, and since it was all over the state the soil changed.

 

[mdshunk]

That is correct! I have done quite a few cell phone sites. Grounding is insane.
Ground rings , Ground rods every six feet, everything is cad welded, then sprayed with Galv spray.

The last one I did had gel filled covers that clipped over the cadwelded connection. I'll see if I can hunt up a link to them.

EDIT... can't find them, but they were made by a company with motion in the name.

 

[Greg Swartz]

...gel filled covers that clipped over the cadwelded connection...

Why gel over cadweld? Oxidization with the melted copper?

 

[Greg Swartz]

That probably has to do with what's known as the 'ground plane' of a transmitting antenna. It's the 'other half' of the antenna element.

Exactly.

When I was doing time with Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, we grounded many communication connex boxes.
8' x 8' x 20' - we grounded every corner and every 6'.
Then they put a couple small antennae on the top of the connex box.

 

[wireguru]

The last one I did had gel filled covers that clipped over the cadwelded connection. I'll see if I can hunt up a link to them.

EDIT... can't find them, but they were made by a company with motion in the name.

electric motion company makes a gel filled ground clamp closure. was it this thing (bottom of the page)? http://www.electricmotioncompany.com/emc.php?type=closures&sub=Ground Rod Clamps/Closure

 

[mdshunk]

electric motion company makes a gel filled ground clamp closure. was it this thing (bottom of the page)? http://www.electricmotioncompany.com/emc.php?type=closures&sub=Ground Rod Clamps/Closure

Similar, but it was rounded. I have no idea why they were spec'd. It would take an awful lot to rot off copper. Perhaps because of the inclusions you always have in a cadweld joint? Beats me.

 

[amflou]

I do hundreds of sites a year, but you haven't given me enough info to help you much. If you are only doing a limited amount of trenching (just adding a generator) just give it a guess as to how many manhours you think it will take.

If you are doing a colo with power, telco, and a ground ring. I usually price a mini-ex daily rental for each 100 lf of trenching. Then a skid steer for a day for the backfilling/restoration. A 2 man crew is the most effective. You will almost always need a load of clean rock for final restoration. Don't forget to replace the fabric, if you don't is will almost always make it onto the punch list.

The best thing to do is try and have the general contractor provide the trenching if you can.

A word to the wise, know where and when the money is coming from. There are a ton of bad contractors in the cell business. Some of them hit a busy market today and they are gone tomorrow and become very difficult to get your money. Find out all the players in the food chain so you know where to go if you have to escalate your collection effort. Don't do the job if you are the sub of the sub of the sub.

Lou

 

[Fulthrotl]

A word to the wise, know where and when the money is coming from. There are a ton of bad contractors in the cell business. Some of them hit a busy market today and they are gone tomorrow and become very difficult to get your money. Find out all the players in the food chain so you know where to go if you have to escalate your collection effort. Don't do the job if you are the sub of the sub of the sub.
Lou

bingo.

i had a post floating around here on the house with the maserati
owner with the $1,000 shoes telling me i needed to cut my hourly
rate on his house..... he didn't like my numbers for a kitchen,
and got a home desperate parking lot guy to do it instead......

yep. you guessed it... he is a cellphone site contractor..... :grin: