MCNC finishes fiber installation on coastal bridges :: Editor's Blog at ...
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http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/11102126/
Posted May. 15, 2012 at 6:55 a.m.
By WRAL Tech Wire KITTY HAWK, N.C. – MCNC has announced another key milestone on the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative. Northeast Rural Broadband, World Fiber Technologies, and MCNC said Tuesday that the conduit and fiber-optic installation along five bridges in northeast North Carolina associated with the second phase of the $144 million project is now complete. The current statewide expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) is funded by federal and matching funding through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and is being built by MCNC, a Research Triangle Park non-profit that operates the network. After a competitive bid process, World Fiber of Alpharetta, Ga., was awarded a $2.1 million contract in November 2011 to attach conduit and install fiber-optic cable within the conduit along the Virginia Dare Bridge (U.S. 64 Bypass over Croatan Sound); U.S. 17 over Chowan River; U.S. 94 over Intracoastal Waterway; Washington Baum Bridge (U.S. 64 Bypass over Roanoke Sound); and the Wright Memorial Bridge (U.S. 158 over Currituck Sound). MCNC successfully applied for encroachment permits from the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to allow for the installation on all five bridges. Extensive daily coordination with NCDOT related to lane closures and management of traffic was a key component to completing this project quickly and before peak tourist season on the Outer Banks. “The impact of the MCNC projects on the future of rural North Carolina will be significant, particularly in eastern North Carolina, where this infrastructure is sorely needed,” commented Gene Conti, N.C. Secretary of Transportation. “This fiber will mean better access to education, more efficient and effective health care, and economic opportunity for our citizens.” Using fiber manufactured by CommScope in Hickory, N.C., World Fiber placed 12 miles of 288-strand fiber-optic cable along the five bridges. The bridge hanger support materials were custom manufactured in the U.S. to ensure proper fit. This also was an opportunity to follow the “Buy American Clause” stimulating the economy through local material procurement and production. “It’s vitally important to World Fiber to promote economic growth while also connecting rural communities with state-of-the-art fiber-optic cable that makes the transfer of Internet, video, voice,
5/15/2012 9:05 AM