The Chelan fires were a double whammy because the primary and redundant fiber "backbones" were both affected. The backbones are the primary fiber cables. They feed distribution nodes through which fiber is moved into the community at a more granular level.
Mike says we were fortunate that the distribution nodes were not taken out as that would have been more time consuming to fix.
The fiber system physically tracks with the power lines. Power needed to be restored first, then Mike's team could work on the fiber. The power lines crews worked lickety-split to restore poles and lines. That work can be done relatively quickly. It takes 10 man hours to splice a fiber cable, a more time consuming task than restoring most power lines. By August 19th all fiber was restored. Great job Chelan PUD!
Mike noted that 69% of the county is covered by fiber, in that it passes in front of their property. The goal is to achieve 85-90% over the next 11 years. They will start by expanding adjacent to existing fiber. Money for this work will be allocated through the budget process after 2017.
Dirk made a pitch for a customized connection to his home on Jump Off Ridge since the fiber is being run near him as it gains access to a cell tower atop Mission Ridge. Nice try Dirk! It seems you'll have better luck getting peach cobbler from Mike than a fiber connection. Not a bad outcome from what I hear about the peach cobbler.
No comments:
Post a Comment