Client: Bonneville Power Administration
Location: Lower Snake River, WA
Services Provided: Construction Management & Inspection
The Central Ferry Fiber Phase II project involved the installation of 77 miles of fiber optic communications cable along existing transmission systems near the lower Snake River.
This project was split into two segments. The first segment spanned Franklin Substation to Lower Monumental Substation, which included a communication tie at Sacajawea Substation. The second segment ran from Hatwai Substation to a location near Lower Granite Substation.
The project primarily focused on: the installation of overhead ADSS fiber optic cable, underground fiber optic cable, overhead optical ground-wire (OPGW), isolators, fiber optic attachment hardware, testing splice locations, and performing a final ‘end to end’ inspection.
Another notable aspect of the project was the fact that it was the client’s first use of “patch panel to patch panel” design, which provided valuable lessons learned information for future projects.
Inflexible outage windows, inclement weather, and difficult terrain required continuous communication between client substation operators, contractors, our construction managers (Resident Engineers), and our on-site inspection personnel (Quality Assurance Representatives). Additionally, due to seasonal inclement weather, brittle connection points in conduit joints/seams were observed during construction. To ensure long-term durability of the conduit, re-design approval processes were expedited to meet deadlines.