7051 - Supply of Fiber Optic Cable Installation Services, 3.Statement of Work
The scope of work shall be finalized upon the selection of the Firm. The respondent’s submission shall have accurately described your understanding of the objectives and scope of the
requested products and services and provided an outline of your process to implement the requirements of the Scope of Work and Services. It is anticipated that the scope of work will
include, at a minimum, the following:
Best practices for City Installations
The basic approach to pulling fiber-optic cable and copper cable is similar; however, optical fiber has a few idiosyncrasies. The glass fiber within the cable is fragile and, although
the cable has been designed to protect the fiber, it can be damaged more easily than a copper wire. The most common damage is a broken fiber, which is difficult to detect. But fibers
can also be cracked from too much tension during cable pulling or de-spooling. The second most common problem is bending the fiber on too tight a radius.
Solution
During the cable-pulling step, always maintain the proper uniform pulling force (tensile stress) on the cable. In addition, although it is always important to maintain the minimum bend
radius, it becomes more important under tensile loading because of the additional stress from pulling the cable.
Procedure
1) Before any pulling or installing, test the cable to eliminate disputes that may arise over responsibility for damaged cable.
2) Set up cable spool so the cable pass off the top.
3) To avoid twisting the cable, which stresses the fiber, reel cable off the spool; don`t spin it over the edge of the spool.
4) When unreeling the cable or applying tension to the cable, always use the strength member--never the fiber.
5) Do not pull on the outer jacket because this will elongate and momentarily stretch it. When the jacket returns to its normal state, the fiber and strength member may be compressed
in the retraction of the jacket, which can cause macro bend attenuation in the cable.
6) Pull uniformly on the cable, maintaining the pulling force 20% below the limit designated for the specific cable--usually 600 lbs. for outside-plant cable and 300 lbs. or less for
other cables.
7) Do not jerk the cable because most fiber cannot handle high-impact loads.
8) When cable is under tensile load (while being pulled), maintain a bend radius of 20 cable diameters.
Note: In long-term static conditions, the recommended bend radius is 10 times the cable diameter. In addition, installations where cable is placed into a tray by hand may allow a tighter
radius.