Santa Rosa Island, Florida
Outside Plant Construction
Trans-Tel takes great strides to achieve zero environmental impact on our construction projects. We follow all federal, state, and local environmental rules and regulations and are extremely proud of our environmental success stories. One recent example of our environmental stewardship is the under-sea cable installation at Sana Rosa Island, Florida.
Due to past hurricanes (Hurricane Andrew & Katrina) the communications network at Santa Rosa Island was completely destroyed. The objective of our project was to establish a hardened and survivable fiber optic distribution system capable of withstanding a storm surge and over wash of 19 feet or greater.
To accomplish this objective, Trans-Tel installed a 12-mile-long manhole and 8-inch duct system at a 20 ft depth. The fiber optic cable placed in this duct system consisted of two 288 strand fiber optic cables. Due to environmental concerns these cables were installed with no splicing; resulting in continuous runs in excess of 4 miles. This effort included a 6000 ft bore under the Santa Rosa sound at an average depth of 40 ft to facilitate the placement of conduit and fiber optic cable. This work effort included installation of conduit systems (conduit, inner ducts, manholes, hand holes, warning tape, locate system, manhole markers). Trans-Tel tested and certified the installed cable, and delivered “as built” drawings to the owner upon completion.
The Environment
Comprehensive restoration of dunes, replacement of grass (sea oats), and protection of indigenous wildlife were of top priority during the installation of the Santa Rosa Island cable. The wildlife included the piping plover, sea turtles, and the Santa Rosa beach mouse. The team worked closely with local, state and federal environmental authorities to protect against disrupting their natural habitat. The environmentalists conducted daily inspections for the duration of the excavation.