Crews challenged to install fiber without knocking out services

The crews face a very specific challenge- snaking the fiber underground without knocking out the services that are already there, including water and natural gas.

Stitching together the new fiber lines is somewhat of an art form. Metal bits are pushed through the soil a few feet at a time. Orange conduit is then pulled back through the hole, creating a tunnel where the fiber lines will live.

“It’s not like digging a subway, you don’t have to dig up the whole street,” said author Scott Huler. “You put one hole here, one hole there, and then there is a hundred yards of cable under there.”

Huler has researched and written about the wires and waterways that go unnoticed because the bulk of modern infrastructure is hidden underground.

“The fact is, they don’t always know what’s where. That’s the reality of it,” he said.

Maps aren’t always accurate so crews use spray paint to mark an area before digging.

“Orange means communication, fiber or cable, blue means fresh water, green means waste water, yellow lines mean gas,” said Huler.

A mishap with one of the yellow lines signifying natural gas caused a geyser of fire in Cary a few years ago, closing a major intersection for several hours.

“You do what you must to make the thing work, and then you expect a little bit of surprise of stuff you didn’t expect and then you move along,” said Huler.

Homeowner Jenny Skinner didn’t take any chances when she found out crews would be threading fiber through her neighborhood.

“I worked very hard to protect my yard,” she said.

She marked her sprinkler system and the underground dog fence and said, so far, she has had success. Crews tunneled through her yard without issue.

“It’s amazing. And AT&T did come and string a whole lot of wires,” said Skinner.

Wiring the utility poles for fiber has its own set of rules.

“At the top of the regular poles are the distribution lines, that’s electricity. You push it to the top so nobody messes with it,” said Huler.

Underneath the distribution lines is the wiring for telephone and cable TV, because those wires do not pose a danger.

Threading new fiber into the community is a tedious process, but one Huler calls “an incredible accomplishment.”

"To think what we're doing is wiring the city for its brain is unimaginable," he said. "I'm really thrilled by it."