Fiber Cut

[locatethis]

Nothing like getting home, cracking open that first Coors Lite, when the phone rings and it's the Boss of your contracted fiber Utility......
Says He, There's been a cut in our fiber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As the words come over the phone, and I feel my guts melting down my legs, I first start thinking, Wait, where,when,who,how,what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As he explains, I realize that it can't be a ticket that I had.
Turns out It was some yahoo farmer dude that has some property close to the utility right of way that has fiber direct buried, that happens to be the back bone of a 622 strand count fiber!
Does anyone out there ever get that gut turning feeling when ever you get that call? Not quite sure if it's your fault, or not?????
Just saying, no matter yes or no, It still makes you crap your pants, If you really care about what you do for a living...........
Just happend to me and well, I'm on my 5th drink to calm me down!!!!!!!!

[TheCableVine]

I get that sick feeling in the middle of my gut. My legs get weak and my head goes numb.

You are not alone. Even if the damage isn't my fault, I still get a feeling that isn't good.

[Goldenboy]

Every time I get the call for a damage I get that feeling. Even if I know I located everything by the book I still get that feeling. I hate it.

[ProfessionalLocator]

I also get that feeling. Even when I know I did everything by the book. Fortunately I go to the site and find they "thought it was deeper".

I had one where it was clearly marked but the site super told the backhoe operator to cut through it becasue he thought it was abandoned. This was along a section that was hard to get a good tone, lots of abandoned tv services in area so I was concerned when I got the call.

[sprayandpray]

The way I see it is if you don't get that feeling, you don't care enough and should probably be in another line of work.

[wilder]

The way I see it is if you don't get that feeling, you don't care enough and should probably be in another line of work.

I agree with ya, but its still one of the things that takes some getting used to in this line of work.

[yahoo]

that feeling is explained perfectly by you guys..........i even get it when a att svc gets cut and it's my fault.......and it does not matter if its early that morning or when you get home....same feeling no matter when or where.......

[spencer newson]

i totally understand that stomach wrenching feeling when you get the call of doom, i had it a couple of years ago, i had a site approx 5 miles long,winding in and out of a fairly large city i was given plans of where the guys were digging it showed that there were no cables in this area, but when i began my survey it soon became apperant that there were a couple of HV and LV cables in the area, so i marked them out i was told that they were digging approx 3mtrs deep, i left site after informing all, and went to the other end of the site, then i get the call "we hit a F*$kin cable man" my mind went into melt down i was back on site within minutes, they had dug a 6 mtr hole in approx 15mins and had hit 33,000volt gas filled electric cable buried bang on 6mtrs, thank god no-one was hurt but it did knock out half of the city,the cable started degarding through loss of insultation. the local electric board arrived and told me that there was no way of locating this cable because, there was 12 similier cables next to it and that they were too deep to get from 6mtrs few that cleared me, but still it made me feeel sick to the core , only last month did we get the bill for the damage £500.000 man i still feel sick just thinking about it now

so if you don't feel that blind panic when you get the call you really don't care about what you do

[ProfessionalLocator]

i totally understand that stomach wrenching feeling when you get the call of doom, i had it a couple of years ago, i had a site approx 5 miles long,winding in and out of a fairly large city i was given plans of where the guys were digging it showed that there were no cables in this area, but when i began my survey it soon became apperant that there were a couple of HV and LV cables in the area, so i marked them out i was told that they were digging approx 3mtrs deep, i left site after informing all, and went to the other end of the site, then i get the call "we hit a F*$kin cable man" my mind went into melt down i was back on site within minutes, they had dug a 6 mtr hole in approx 15mins and had hit 33,000volt gas filled electric cable buried bang on 6mtrs, thank god no-one was hurt but it did knock out half of the city,the cable started degarding through loss of insultation. the local electric board arrived and told me that there was no way of locating this cable because, there was 12 similier cables next to it and that they were too deep to get from 6mtrs few that cleared me, but still it made me feeel sick to the core , only last month did we get the bill for the damage £500.000 man i still feel sick just thinking about it now

so if you don't feel that blind panic when you get the call you really don't care about what you do

A gas filled electric cable, was that Sulfur hexafluoride gas?

It is a good insulating gas and reasonably safe in good conditions but dangerous when an electrical fault occurs.

In the arc of a fault the gas breaks down and you are left with sulfer in powder from. Miked with the sulfur is various fluorine compounds which are highly toxic. Various gases are formed and released such as Disulfur decafluoride which will attack the lungs much like phosgene gas which was used on the battlefields of WWI.

When working in an area where sf6 has been exposed to an electrical fault a hazmat suit is needed.

A big problem with unadulterated sf6 is that it is many times heaver than air and it will pool in the bottom of digs or building displacing the oxygen. Suffocation is a hazard.

Sf6 is most commonly used in high voltage circuit breakers. I have used high voltage test equipment, hi-pot equipment, utilizing sf6, nice and light weight. I also have seen it used in enclosed high voltage bus in city substations where space is at a premium.

[Mark]

I backhoed right thru a fiber one day that wasn't marked. I thought it was an old abandoned 25 pair, but it wasn't. That gets the heart pumpin...

[Mke]

I watched yesterday as our Electrical Inspector deliberately cut though a 25pr, and a Fiber line, just to see if anyone was going to complain.

As of 4:00 yesterday, no one called to complain. They wanted to know, from me, if that line was live or dead. I told them as much as I could, but I couldn't tell them if it was dead or not, so........ Snip Snip.

Still made me nervous, the only good thing, was that It was located the entire length.

And for you who think I was slacking off, there was 10 conduits, 9 loaded, I could prove all but 2 conduits were cut off. The two remaining conduits were the conduit run that contained the 25 and F.O. I don't like giving people the green light to hack stuff, unless i'm 110% sure....... and even then, it depends on the people.

mke

[GPGrasshopper]

A gas filled electric cable, was that Sulfur hexafluoride gas?

It is a good insulating gas and reasonably safe in good conditions but dangerous when an electrical fault occurs.

In the arc of a fault the gas breaks down and you are left with sulfer in powder from. Miked with the sulfur is various fluorine compounds which are highly toxic. Various gases are formed and released such as Disulfur decafluoride which will attack the lungs much like phosgene gas which was used on the battlefields of WWI.

When working in an area where sf6 has been exposed to an electrical fault a hazmat suit is needed.

A big problem with unadulterated sf6 is that it is many times heaver than air and it will pool in the bottom of digs or building displacing the oxygen. Suffocation is a hazard.

Sf6 is most commonly used in high voltage circuit breakers. I have used high voltage test equipment, hi-pot equipment, utilizing sf6, nice and light weight. I also have seen it used in enclosed high voltage bus in city substations where space is at a premium.

I have heard of Sf6 being used in a high voltage application as an insulator, but have never seen one in the field. I have seen bulk feeders using transformer fluid (that's what we called it, but it is really a highly refined form of mineral oil used as a coolant around the conductor). That makes a big mess when it is hit. Hazmat, EPA, and suits form all around will show up on that one. You can usually find the guy responsible pretty easy. He looks like this:

[ProfessionalLocator]

I have heard of Sf6 being used in a high voltage application as an insulator, but have never seen one in the field. I have seen bulk feeders using transformer fluid (that's what we called it, but it is really a highly refined form of mineral oil used as a coolant around the conductor). That makes a big mess when it is hit. Hazmat, EPA, and suits form all around will show up on that one. You can usually find the guy responsible pretty easy. He looks like this:

Actually I have hunted down gas leaks on sf6 pressurized direct buried electric cables but they were not commonly used. Just a pin hole will empty a 5' gas cylinder in 24 hours and this gas is relatively expensive.

Hunting down that gas leak was many years ago. As a detector we had what looked like a soldering gun. It had a little fan that drew air samples in and exposed them to a radioactive isotope. The reaction measured in the exposure chamber would indicate the presence of sf6. Did not work worth a darn as we dug up maybe twelve locations before we found the leak. I think we just got lucky and happened to dig over it.

[ProfessionalLocator]

I have heard of Sf6 being used in a high voltage application as an insulator, but have never seen one in the field. I have seen bulk feeders using transformer fluid (that's what we called it, but it is really a highly refined form of mineral oil used as a coolant around the conductor). That makes a big mess when it is hit. Hazmat, EPA, and suits form all around will show up on that one. You can usually find the guy responsible pretty easy. He looks like this:

Years ago the firm I worked at wanted larger diameter electric conductors to fit into the duct work of the 15KV system in the city. They went from a leaded jacket cable to an aluminum jacket cable from BICC , British Insulated Calandars Corporation, in England.

The thinner aluminum sheath allowed for larger diameter conductor to fit into this cable with the same outside diameter.

These BICC cables had an insulating oil all their own. The oil dissolved our rubber boots and gloves. It got onto our hands and feet and the skin sloughed off. It took about three or five years after I worked with it last for skin not to peel off my fingers and the palms of my .

[sprayandpray]

I watched yesterday as our Electrical Inspector deliberately cut though a 25pr, and a Fiber line, just to see if anyone was going to complain.

As of 4:00 yesterday, no one called to complain. They wanted to know, from me, if that line was live or dead. I told them as much as I could, but I couldn't tell them if it was dead or not, so........ Snip Snip.

Still made me nervous, the only good thing, was that It was located the entire length.

And for you who think I was slacking off, there was 10 conduits, 9 loaded, I could prove all but 2 conduits were cut off. The two remaining conduits were the conduit run that contained the 25 and F.O. I don't like giving people the green light to hack stuff, unless i'm 110% sure....... and even then, it depends on the people.

mke

I don't know about your State's laws but down here if anyone deliberately damages underground facilities it can be considered a criminal offense on top of civil damages.