Micro-Trenching for Google Fiber, with Aquaphalt road restoration.

Huntsville, AL 7/18/2019

[@t23001]

Nine workers turned in to three once the work started. Pretty good technique for temporary service. A fiber optic line eight to nine inches deep with a soft conduit is vulnerable to breakage from other utility workers, sprinkler crews, and gardeners.

[@cupcakemcgee3175]

These workers are in the public eye. Would like the public to come to your work and criticize how you do your job. yea, I think not!

[@jamess1787]

I especially like the Berkenstocks that one of the guys are wearing! Also, they could very well be running armored cable, so most home-owner/pruvate ground work wouldn't affect it. Locates would need to be done with any major road repair.🤷. City I live in had their traffic light systems and photo "RFP" in but neglected to require minimum depths.... Like 2-3" install depth. These get torn up all the time by construction crews 🤣

[@EpicATrain]

OP, and when they need to rip the road up for whatever reason, there goes that line. This truly is horrible installation.

[@EpicATrain]

@@tripplefives1402 Common practice where? That's not the proper way to install this stuff.

[@tamashalmai8224]

Not necessarily, in case of micro fibre the cable is installed in a coper protection tube. Also if budget allows the installation is based on a physical ring topology, which is an additional layer of security.

[@orellaminx3530]

Six people on the job, only two doing the bulk of the work. A third dude finally picks up a shovel after like ten minutes and does like 30 seconds of work. Living up to the stereotype.

[@driatrogenesis]

yup You drive by any municipal construction project and its the same Private projects are a diff story, but anything done at state, or local govt is absolute trash, and you notice there are always wasting money! They will spend money just to spend it because they wint get thst state funding next yr if they dont spend it they prob hire extra people just to spend money

[@donaldhall116]

Great video, Brian!

[@LulzChicken]

As someone who lives in Huntsville great video!

[@wojomojo]

They need more workers standing around talking to each other. It'll go faster that way.

[@kerzytibok3211]

Maybe they're already doing it but whenever a new subdivision of homes gets built --- wouldn't it be easier to lay conduit underground to every home, say around 3 foot depth? That way you can install fiber or replace old fiber rather easily, and makes it future-proof. The way they are doing it in this video, the cable will be destroyed whenever they renovate the roadway.

[@Deploracle]

Roadways won't be needed when cars are outlawed.

[@stickyfox]

If we lived in a more developed country, data infrastructure would be considered valuable and there'd already be conduits under the roads for it. We treat fiber the way slums in India treat plumbing and electricity.

[@alliso1240]

Where i am conduit is run to every home. I would guess dial up wasn't even a thing when these homes were built. 😂

[@cupcakemcgee3175]

You would think. Most municipalities want do all this after a freshly laid asphalt goes down. Atleast that is how it works where I live. I work for that municipality. NOT the one in the video

[@drooplug]

That orange stuff is conduit. The trench looks deep enough to not be a problem for resurfacing.

[@Delosriosandres]

Good job! Btw that neighbor couldn’t wait until you guys finish work to do his lawn? Lol 😅🤘🏻

[@davidhammons-sc9qd]

Great compaction on the repair...

[@spaceboy7192]

Love the guy that decided to weedwac as there working. Karen had to see what's happening

[@edwardbartoneb]

Depending upon your city, county and state codes. All fiber underground cables should be anywhere between 36 to 42 inches deep. Depending upon the underground utilities. This that you see will likely only last as long as the road. Is not milled up to be replaced by a new road.

[@alwaysbadideas]

awesome video

[@mohmedsideg7947]

Good work

[@RupamMedhi]

good job.

[@alexandsimba]

Most Folks: That machine looks cool. Me: Damn that lawn looks good.

[@bikerchrisukk]

I do like it as a temporary solution, yes the road will need attention at some point even if it's low vehicular use. But when that time comes, they can put conduit in. I think the purpose of this is probably to do a quick job, but also one that doesn't involve costly and inconvenient road closures. When the road needs re-surfacing, it will need full permits and be a hassle to road users, at that point they can do the final cable run well below ground level. I did a job only a few weeks ago (new build) that would have involved power going from one side of a road to the other - that was going to be £7,000. If the power was on the right side of the road already, it would have been a third of that price or less. The admin cost is very high for going under a road.

[@garygsp3]

They have horizontal boring machines that could have bored under road put the cable at a safe from breakage depth. That costs more money and a lot more time. Which is the way every other utility service does it. Nope Google opted for cheap, and destruction of public property. So cheap that the cable is going to need replaced if public works ever touches that road. So they'll be back... to do it again... What's worse is ultimately Google isn't paying for this shoddy work. The people of Huntsville are, what's even worse is that their public officials allowed it.

[@Solkre82]

@@garygsp3 We've had Surf Broadband and Frontier Fiber installing in my town. They're using the horizontal boring machines everywhere. Nothing like what was shown here. The only trick I've seen is a long drill bit looking then to jump under sidewalks for the runs to the homes.

[@peercat4918]

Like your outside thinking but 8" max for depth... roads will rip that up np if road has to be reconstructed... something to consider for long term.

[@thecasualfly]

of course that's part of the long term plan but this is a way to get fiber there now.. also unless it's a deep resurfacing which I doubt in a residential area it's normally about 4 inches.. so most likely below that threshold

[@nationaldatacontractor]

This process is called micro trenching for a reason, not meant to be more than a few inches deep so I'm not sure why so many comments saying it needs to be several feet deep. This is likely in the south as well. Is it the best method? No, in some areas, and yes in others. We have done a good amount of this, but we mostly cut concrete over bridges with walkways, down public walks, parking lots, or along the roadside edge where blocking traffic and major property tear out isn't an option. We also use hot polymer resin based infill and color match in many cases, along with insulating sand in some projects with wider cuts or rough base. Sometimes the customer just wants asphalt fill, so we give it to them similar to this. In this case, it's clearly city work and done at the lowest attention to detail. I didn't see an inspection, no insulating sand, dyer markers, etc. We would have put a bright orange dyed fill a few inches above the conduit so when resurfacing happens they see the color if they get too deep. When we cross streets we find out what the cities resurfacing depth is, usually 2-4 inches max so 6 inch depth isn't going to get touched. Obviously a full road removal is going to rip it up. Despite a sub par job, that fiber will last a long time.

[@jessiesorbet2434]

"Ditchcraft" - The practice of professionally operating a Ditch Witch....

[@DropkickDemon]

No 811 flags in sight lol. Call in your digs, for the love of God.

[@maggarlion]

Thank God for FIOS all they did was change my ONT and ran an ethernet cable to my router. They didn't even have to change my router, I guess this area didn't have the infrastructure in place before.

[@peep39]

every time I see a patch or a cut at right angle to the road, I wonder why. even a slight angle makes it last longer in terms of being snow plowed and it's also a less egregious bump to vehicles.

[@BobBob-nr1zt]

Makes sense. And also, why not just tunnel under the road. There's no way we couldn't build a machine of the same size, for the same cost, that could push a rod under the road, and then pull the rod back, threading the conduit in the process.

[@jessiechenier1011]

Way less people and way cleaner to directional bore plus once asphalt needs repair there goes the entire line haha

[@gregwilliams386]

Seen that. Not to mention waterline, storm drain and gas line replacement. And in large cities this would never work.

[@tcpnetworks]

Yep - we underbore everything past establishment here. 1M down for main runs - 600mm down for residential ducts.

[@TrustTheScience]

Seven project managers, 3 people to do the work lol

[@JxH]

Utilities (e.g. fiber optic cables) installed on telephone poles can be damaged once every few years and are fixed within hours. Utilities installed underground are damaged far less frequently, but would be off-line for days, or weeks, or worse. A bit of a trade-off I think. We have had fiber optic internet installed in 2014, even in an area of extremely low population density, i.e. multi-acre lots. It was installed quickly and efficiently. People wait extra decades if they don't have poles. A bit of a trade off I think. Choose your option.

[@robokpl]

they should drill under road ...

[@jonathanhobbs4674]

too bad google has already abandoned this technique in nc and the system they had put in. worked ok till the first time they ground the asphalt down and it ripped the filler and cable out every time they crossed it

[@LaFox23]

It’s a horrible method and im surprised cities allowed them to do it this way

[@kyliam80]

Why cut a fairly new looking road to lay microduct in a gap and then simply patch it? leaving a big black line across it?. Why not just get a JT9, bore under the road and put in a 1" flex pipe and fish it instead?. This seems like horrible business practice, and I can't imagine the city or majority of the neighbors are really happy about it, either.

[@jeffbell9391]

Money and time ,this is cheap way

[@doobs930069]

Im with most of these people in the comments. This video was interesting but as someone who did this work for three years with a plow and jt20 directional drill, this was hard to watch. Thanks for the upload anyways and watch out for the rainbow tree roots.

[@bigwoodrz]

The Pace they work at is frightening. But, in the end the job was done, or was it?

[@giovannifiorentino8947]

Need to come up with a thin large wheel to place the conduit at the bottom of the trench, like the one for the asphalt.

[@WombleUK]

Looka like road works in the US are the same as here in the UK, 1 bloke doing the work with 9 others standing around supervising.

[@mikel9567]

That's one dull blade on that cutter. Slow as hell. Use cold pour crack filler. Won't damage the microduct, faster to install and less messy. We use EZ Street to patch our roads.

[@BigZeus]

here they used concrete, made it much flatter and doesnt indent in

[@chuckh.2227]

That poor machine needs some love

[@seymorgorde]

Micro-trenching is too elegant for this low work.

[@Thejakegee]

If that was a utility company, they would have to Mill half the block and replace curb to curb. Crazy! 😂

[@davidhammons-sc9qd]

Only if they want a good finished product & restoration. Which this is sorely lacking.

[@bitpri05]

Nice video - I never though this type of install was a thing

[@gregwilliams386]

When they resurface roads nowadays the grind the asphalt down about 3-4 inches. This won't get dug up? Looks too shallow.

[@Todd.T]

Yes it will. Should have made 2 pits with a vac truck and used a ditch witch to make it a forever installation. This will get cut during curb repairs and road repairs.

[@alexrralex]

That is big black tablet, that liquid they put inside and where is sealant?

[@Mike_5]

When the road gets resurfaced with new Tarmac everyone will loose their service?

[@xxx_phantom_xxxw_t_a9479]

It feels like the blade runs much too slowly, and it's also dry, well these aren't my devices. Why don't you see that you should put the whole thing properly in the ground? I'm curious to see how the next street coating will do the cable good. Here (Switzerland) such cables are shot over short distances (e.g. under streets), but mostly laid through existing cable ducts (electricity, telephone, TV, etc.), well protected, easily laid and easily accessible for renewals/repairs.

[@teebu]

I bet these guys getting $60/$100 an hour sweeping the sidewalk.

[@driatrogenesis]

at tax payer expense but hey we all need 100 gbps so we can be brainwashed some more

[@AM-dn4lk]

So what happens to the fibre in the road when it is ready to be milled and repaved. Is the fiber removed before milling, or it gets chewed up by the road mill?

[@whitexeno]

They burried it well below where repaving will take place

[@JL-rx6hl]

Couldn't even follow the painted line......... Could they work any slower??

[@briankutys2235]

Painted line is just proposed path for locators.

[@bullboss7698]

That should last a day or two.

[@sparkythebuilder]

I guess directional boring wasn't invented yet?

[@noticiasucrania2023]

Just like anywhere else in the world 7 people to supervise, 2 people to work and 1 noisy frog...

[@keng528]

Grid down made easy...

[@HPad2]

9:52 The Cable Co is checking out whats going on ahahaha

[@zimbabwesteve4620]

Micro trenching is done as a faster more inexpensive way to run fiber to customers . If the road is repaved, or planning to be replaced they would end up running it in con. Micro trenching is good for areas that permitting and directional boring are not practical. This is a quick, cheap, easy way to get fiber internet without the overhead

[@thecasualfly]

Don't tell that to the armchair experts

[@td389]

Cut the cable too short. How is anyone going to tie in? Or was just that just a hollow tube for the fiber to go into? Should have put a sealer over everything. Snow will melt, freeze and expand and create the need to repair the road.

[@flylitpilot4202]

Wat are some fiber optic companies that are hiring in California?

[@user-cj1yx8xv5n]

As an HDD contractor 🤦‍♂ cutting a perfectly good road for fiber is crazy how can there village allow such a thing.

[@roberto.gallegos]

How I’m the world is that deep enough to keep it from being damaged during ashfault and concrete work. But I guess that isn’t there problem.

[@cupcakemcgee3175]

Why not put crack seal over the top.

[@exinco]

so how you put and pull accross the fiber cables?

[@tcpnetworks]

You suck them through with a vacuum.

[@digi3218]

Put a fish line through first or it comes already in the conduit. You pull the fiber and a new fish line for the next guy through.

[@rickslife]

This sure doesn’t seem permanent.

[@manuelvalinhas5547]

where was this ?

[@sandy-rr1by]

No way that's 8 or 9 inches below surface.

[@Lanceb131]

What's he spraying in the cut when putting the asphalt back?

[@briankutys2235]

It’s just water. Used to activate the aquaphalt to harden it

[@sigridqwq5198]

Diesel, only Diesel......(Petroleum)

[@H1TMANactual]

What is that blade made out of JC

[@BigZeus]

diamond

[@sigridqwq5198]

the blade is from wood, hartwood.....

[@siiNke]

5 watch 1 work. Murica

[@mlzz805]

Thought Google stopped new fiber builds?

[@ikkuranus]

That's what I thought too. Maybe it was actually one of the other ISPs such as AT&T or Verizon etc.

[@Diegohall7875]

It's in Huntsville, Alabama and it is for Google Fiber. Huntsville Utilities builds and owns the fiber network there and leases access to the various ISPs.

[@jonatanbarraza1475]

How do I find these projects and were there going on? I’m a contractor..

[@danieldebreczeni7021]

Do you guys want some more work?

[@fitybux4664]

3:28 Dude is flying down the road for a construction area. 😲

[@Mike1614b]

yeah, people are jerks

[@tombo552001]

With the price to repair faber optic , this sure isn't trying to protect it.oh and cut right through the curb and gutter

[@Reaperofwind]

Hope that ain’t Louisville , Google abandoned it do to shallow trenching 2” was to shallow.

[@johnmarquardt1991]

Google Fiber has put everything underground in the KC area. This looks temporary.

[@miguelmorales3313]

Wonder who is going to blame who when it is time to replace the concrete of the road.

[@CXensation]

Gotta be dead sure that no other installations are in the way down there ...

[@brendangully]

Damn thats shallow....

[@danfratamico]

What happens when the road needs to be repaved?

[@LaFox23]

Gets ripped up

[@Optical_eye]

2 работают, остальные типа управляют (менеджеры). Ещё один, вроде, инженер (мастер). У нас в подобных случаях оптику или поверх по столбам ведут или копают две ямы и сверлят на большой глубине (2-3 метра).

[@user-lt1ye1ll4d]

К сожалению в месте прокола как правило в течении года асфальт проседает. Может быть из-за нарушения технологии, а может технология сама хреновая.

[@Gekxxx1]

вроде компенсационный шов делают, а не гильзуют, ибо выводы не оставили

[@juanrperez77]

Garbage system. If road works is ever needed it’s a nightmare to R & R

[@egwaluesimuwilfred8946]

Am a fiber installer in Uganda but earn less than 200 USD without any allowance, would like to work with such tools and better pay

[@LaFox23]

God forbid the road ever has to be ripped up and repaved. Someday they will learn drilling is better.

[@rogermoore8977]

My friend explained why satellites can't replace fiber cable for communication network is because the distance between earth and satellite then back to earth is too great. The added milliseconds becomes a bottleneck. I still think of how many million miles of roadway on earth have to get a cable.

[@sigridqwq5198]

the glasfiber is only fore important peaple, like Bidenfriends, only for homeoffice, like CIA....

[@waynesardullo2482]

how the hell is that even legal...

[@LaFox23]

That’s what I’m saying

[@sigridqwq5198]

the Praesident Biden say is okay....cut the shit....

[@kitaraozhpri4602]

Wow.. No Wonder Google Fiber is Expensive.. 5 Managers to Tell 2 workers what to do

[@sigridqwq5198]

the whites have to control the blacks, maybe they dont understand what is to do...?

[@Catman1798]

They are doing it in my area now. So what’s gonna happen when the street needs to be stripped and repaved again?? That cut didn’t look that deep for this street. I saw the cut in person here and it looked very deep. Probably not gonna be affected by street scraping. And another thing why do this underground?? Isn’t that gonna be hard for them to fix the wire if something goes wrong and you know things always go wrong with wires for whatever reason. They will have to pull it out of the ground etc. sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me. What about floods?? Wire could be submerged in water underground. Why not just run on a telephone pole and be done with it quick? Like cable internet.

[@y2klightning]

I'm researching this method for a new FTTH role out, and I've never heard of it being ripped up by a repaving, that's something I hadn't considered... Definitely will have to see if I can find more occurrences of that. "Attachment" fees are a recurring cost of attaching to a telephone pole... forever, you also have to pay to "make ready" the pole if there isn't room (this could range from moving other utilities to replacing the whole pole), many neighborhoods don't have poles, ice or vehicles can take out a pole. The cable itself is protected from water, then they put it in a conduit, but yes it can be damaged by road work or other utilities; the MT9 they're using is only a 9" max depth so it definitely isn't going that far down.

[@Catman1798]

@@y2klightning well i got google fiber anyway soooo lol. Hope it stays working when streets get repaired lol. Love it too! Great service

[@mpetrie]

When a road needs to be resurfaced, the amount of road material removed is typically only 4-6 inches at most. These fiber lines are typically installed 8-10 inches deep so the lines will remain below the point where the surface is removed and repaved. The only time it would really be an issue is if the subsurface/foundation of a road needs to be redone. At that point, the fiber line will need to be reinstalled.

[@vincentpallemans6035]

Theyre installing a conduit below the asphalt grade. Asphalt is not going to be thicker than 4". The duct they're installing is deeper. When the fiber is rendered inoperable will pull it out of the duct sleeve and pull a new fiber through it. No need to reinstall the duct

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@Catman1798 What region, and what's the cost?

[@jimdaro2805]

That's very shallow to bury fiber cable

[@briankutys2235]

For our municipality and our MSO, it is at the required 6”

[@rythemzlatin]

​@@briankutys2235 Yup. As " _required_ " by a cubicle-dwelling bureaurocrat with absolutely *NO* *IDEA* how weather & the elements work. Book-smart , irl-DUMB. I've worked over 35 years in government , and sadly it's the dumbest & laziest ones ( who *WON'T* be missed on a jobsite ) who tend to get promoted. Penny-wise & _Thousands_ of dollars foolish ; but they _show_ on *paper* how much they "saved" & get bonuses for it.

[@nickyriz78]

How deep does that blade go down

[@briankutys2235]

Local municipality regulations are 6”

[@LaFox23]

Not deep enough

[@sigridqwq5198]

2 meter

[@LaFox23]

@@sigridqwq5198 bud that’s not 2 meters

[@akshonclip]

Google needs to stay out of infrastructure.

[@solen1849]

umm,hate to break it to you guy you missed the dotted line, please don't hire this guy to do heart surgery.. LOL only kidding

[@tiagoas171]

what is the liquid been used ?

[@briankutys2235]

Just standard water. It activates the aquaphalt and hardens it.

[@tiagoas171]

@@briankutys2235 Thanks. Good Work, Appreciate.

[@sigridqwq5198]

Diesel

[@chuckvoss9344]

They have never been in a city that requires a permit ...for every cut like that!!!

[@oscarbear1043]

They used this method to put long flashing lights down the centre of the highway for a school crossing zone. Took two weeks night work, the lights stopped working after two weeks, they never repaired them.

[@michaelc.3812]

Don’t forget your respirators! Powdered concrete is very nasty for your lungs!

[@TRexMma85]

Wheres your hard hat?

[@maxipaw-dc5xj]

You don't need hard hats unless your working around two story building or higher.

[@jx5189]

Too bad this technique didn't work they could deploy fiber much faster, but the fiber would ride back up to the surface.

[@BigZeus]

It did, they are doing it in Austin currently

[@bhearit5775]

god i hate internet install contractors only putting cable/fiber 0.5-5 inches deep when it should atleast be 1ft

[@EpicATrain]

Wow... That's some seriously lazy, crappy installation. No wonder Google Fiber has so many issues with their lines coming back up to the surface. I've heard horror stories but never seen it. This is NOT the way to install fiber, not even remotely close.

[@garygsp3]

Billion dollar company opts for the cheapest installation along with the destruction of public property. Every other utility service would have to bore under the road. NOT GOOGLE! We bribed your officials and we can now do what we want. EVEN BETTER! We did this job so cheap, than when if fails because it's so shallow, we're allowed to do it again. What's even better is ultimately the people of Huntsville are the ones who will pay in more ways than one with this shoddy install. They could have bored under the road and Google would still have made more money than they knew what to do with it. This just pisses me off.

[@gplarry]

dont do this in florida. it might fall in.

[@TheScytheMoron]

Meh ... micro trenching is just such a bad way to do this ... yeah it is cheap, yeah it is fast, but there are SO many downsides ...

[@SamaSama-ke5uj]

What are some downsides and some and some alternatives?

[@TheScytheMoron]

@@SamaSama-ke5uj Well digging ... dedicated ducts 80cm or even lower below ground. It aint cheap, but it will last and in case of a defect it is easy to fix. Microtrenching is just ... CANCER

[@CarlosReyes-xm7rp]

need to see them feet moving.....

[@merchanics5633]

Boy are these workers slow. In the same time chinese workers would have put up a bridge and built a few road for fun.

[@trey6638]

This has to be the most ghetto shit I've ever seen. There's no way that small of a cutting wheel made it all the way through that high back curb. So now if that curb ever has to be replaced, guess what, there's fiber embedded inside of it.

[@bobdickweed]

WOW , all that work to put down a garden hose ,

[@SuperMatt2112]

As per usual, the comments are epic.... lot of know it all talking about things they know nothing about, if you read the title it should not surprise anyone, it's google, they can do whatever they want. statutes, rules, regulations and policy go out the window.

[@xvhkgreen6297]

you know nothing.

[@xvhkgreen6297]

I bet these guys getting $60/$100 an hour sweeping the sidewalk.

[@xvhkgreen6297]

Billion dollar company opts for the cheapest installation along with the destruction of public property. Every other utility service would have to bore under the road. NOT GOOGLE! We bribed your officials and we can now do what we want. EVEN BETTER! We did this job so cheap, than when if fails because it's so shallow, we're allowed to do it again. What's even better is ultimately the people of Huntsville are the ones who will pay in more ways than one with this shoddy install. They could have bored under the road and Google would still have made more money than they knew what to do with it.

[@xvhkgreen6297]

who are you? the statutes, rules, regulations and policy police?

[@xvhkgreen6297]

its people like you that let this happen.

[@cnt2035]

Typical...three guys to do the job of one