Quilt Optical Fiber Workshop Boulder Research and Administrative Network (BRAN) Experiences/Lessons Learned By Jim Van Dyke

6/22/ BRAN Introduction  Four Partners: NCAR/UCAR, City of Boulder, NOAA/NIST, CU at Boulder  Boulder metro installation to connect partner sites  A 96 strand SMF-28 fiber from end to end  Nodes are spliced and pigtailed

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6/22/ Development  Initiated by technical side, not management side  Four partners mean: cooperation, politics, serving special interests  Management and technical folks had to work together to develop project  RFP process with detailed specifications

6/22/ Specifications  Identify lead party to develop and champion specifications  Do not compromise quality  Document and confirm the details  Have other parties review specs and proposals

6/22/ Construction  Electrical contractor won the bid with a communications subcontractor  The contractor underestimated the complexity/cost of the installation – it is called “Boulder” for a reason –Hit countless big rocks –Hit at least 2 water mains –Locates/paths under busy intersections difficult –Working with railroad RoWs difficult

6/22/ Prepare for Setbacks

6/22/ Installation  Assign lead party to manage installation  Spend time with the contractor/installer up front  Verify quality of fiber installers/splicers prior to installation

6/22/ Acceptance Criteria  Quality components  Bend radius  Pulling tension  Splice quality  Connector quality  100% fiber strand verification  Make sure your expectations are clear up front –Verify quality early and often

6/22/ Connector Faces

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6/22/ Phased implementation  Specifications should allow turning up links in the path without having the entire project done

6/22/ Maintenance: Do you maintain or outsource?  Coordinate outsource management –Locator –Manhole verification - annuallyManhole verification –Repair  We maintain –Emergency parts –Contingency fund

6/22/ Maintenance – annual manhole verification

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6/22/ Expansion  Collocated at local PoPs  Have a common bundle of fiber go to every new node/spur and be terminated for route testing

6/22/ Questions?