August 12, 2024
August 12, 2024
AHRC is non-for-profit organization headquartered at 189 Wheatley Road, Brookville, NY 11545 is dedicated in helping individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) throughout Nassau County. AHRC has a range of companies that includes Camp Loyaltown.
Since 1982, Camp Loyaltown nestled in Hunter N.Y. and nearby Hunter Mountain has helped campers with IDD discover independence while experiencing the joys of friendship, fun and personal achievement free from
challenges they face daily. Camp Loyaltown’s selection process for upgrading their fiberoptic network system and connecting 5 buildings with 3,000 feet of cables led to a unique solution that requires no trenching, no permitting and is approximately 90% faster and 50% less expensive than conventional ditching, trenching, and hanging on utility poles. The 10-year warranty added assurance against failure from traditional wear and
tear.
The Camp’s 54Kbit wireless bridge network was antiquated and in need of an upgrade. Additionally, the 54Kbit connection did not provide an adequate bandwidth to support the connectivity for nearly eight hundred (800) campers and staff members. Furthermore, the camp’s Telehealth platform is a key service component offered to both the campers and staff for online medical and emergency support was not reliable due to the 54Kbit wireless
bridge network. Telehealth platform is an extremely important service to the campers and provides real-time diagnostic over the network system.
Upgrading to a 10 GB or more service which provided the throughput to maintain wireless connectivity
throughout the campground. All five (5) buildings needed new data rack mount fiber panels. The fibers were terminated with LC splices on pigtails with a total of 144 splices between the buildings to ensure the hardwire connection and 24/7 wireless connectivity.
The AHRC IT Network team recognized the problem facing the camp year beginning in June 2023 to have in place a fully operational fiber optic backbone that provided the necessary connectivity and Wi-Fi. Key concerns of the camp senior staff: being under construction from trenching, equipment and creating a less than desirable experience at the camp for the 2023 summer session.
The harsh environment and weather conditions in Upstate N.Y. Expansion and contraction of road surfaces caused from radical temperature changes would impact the integrity of the underground fiber network as well as snow plowing that takes place in the heavy snowfall area of Hunter Mountain.
Citizens Options Unlimited, Inc. was looking to deploy a fiber backbone network to connect all 5 buildings together. There was no cabling infrastructure connecting any of these buildings outside of some copper lines
between the main office and Infirmary. The bid requirement was to run underground piping or poles to network the campus. The bidders would install a 2” conduit when going underground.
Of critical importance was the required bandwidth and throughput necessary to support the Telehealth platform for the camp. This solution must provide seamless bandwidth on the network.
Companies bidding on the project provided a cost analysis and site plan that included costs, equipment, time of completion and finally connecting the fiber to the servers and internet as fully operational.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NEW, OCTOBER 2022 Ver. 1 for Fiber Infrastructure
TRAXyL/nanoFIBER™ flush road solution met all bid requirements. According to Joseph Milone, Director of AHRC Network Solutions states, the “FiberTRAX” solution is an amazing technology. The flush road deployment was far superior to any surface mounted options. TRAXyL provided the best price compared to micro trenching.
Instead of months to complete with bulldozers, ariel wires and disrupting the camp, TRAXyL/nanoFIBER™ bid promised the whole project for Fiber network installation in three (3) days to fiber connectivity in two (2)
days! Almost too good to be true.”
TRAXyL, the leader in “Fiber-To-Flush-Mount-Surface Solutions” FiberTRAX, and nanoFIBER™, stainless-steel armored fiber optic cabling manufacturer team met with Joe Milone at the campsite. Reviewed the project and the daily goals to fully deploy the network in five (5) days.
Issues considered for both the inner and outer jacket were the fiber optic cable’s ability to withstand harsh environments, and expansion and contraction associated with radical temperature changes in road surfaces. Additionally, the outer diameter of the armored cable could not exceed the width of the road groove and allow the TRAXyL topcoat to easily be applied for a smooth operation. Furthermore, in the unlikely case of water leakage caused by road punctures, the cable must resist water breaching of the inner
fiber optic strands within the cabling jacket.
nanoFIBER™ developed a 24-strand singlemode cable that would meet or exceed project expectations. The nanoFIBER™ stainless-steel armored 24 F Indoor/Outdoor SM G657A@ OD 4.0mm Model #SM2424N-A2-4.0 cable
allowed for fiber upgrades and additional future applications. The stainless-steel armor provided the gauge thickness to ensure crush and vermin resistance, as well as meeting harsh weather conditions in Upstate N.Y.
Water Blocking material is added to protect against a breach of the outer jacket. The water blocking material absorbs any moisture and maintains the integrity of the fiber cable and protects the fiber optic strands within the cabling jacket. Kevlar is added to strengthen the cable when pulled through TRAXtor machine and maintain a smooth rollout of the fiber into the road groove. Finally, Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) outer jacket is added to the cable to eliminate carcinogens associated with fire from as well as meet
Depart Of Transportation specifications.
Diagram #2: Cut away image of the typical nanoFIBER stainless steel
armored and components
Project started at 7 am with breakfast and meeting with the staff to layout the 7-step project and based on a 10-hour workflow. First day on site was all site prep and handwork. This included unloading machines and trailer, prep work for building A, B, C, D. This includes trenching, handwork, innerduct conduit and micro duct installation as well as finding all ideal entry points at buildings.
The team prepped for day 2 goals and objectives during the 7am breakfast meeting and planned the workflow of 10 hours. Due to hills and inconsistent asphalt surfaces, only channel grooving was completed on the second day by the TRAXtor. The installation staff continues the smoothing of 1,800 feet of surface with the MVP machine. The installation staff pulls the nanoFIBER™ armored cables through all necessary conduits and laid cables into grooves etched into the surface between each building.
Figure 4: TRAXyL groove andnanoFIBER Singlemode stainless-steel armor grooved “flush to surface solution”
Team prepped for day 3 goals and objectives during the 7am breakfast meeting. The TRAXtor laid the fiber optic cable and the durable topcoat. Laying the topcoat and fiber took approximately 3 hours once appropriate hand work was completed. The total day work flow was 9 hours.
Project started at 7 am after breakfast and developed the 8-step project and goals for the day. First day on site was all site prep, splicing and handwork. The plan would take 9 hours.
Due to the pre-planning and great installation from TRAXyL, we were able to complete the splicing and testing 50% of the scheduled timeframe.
The third and final visit was for termination and testing process. All buildings had brand new data racks and we used rack mount fiber panels. The fibers were terminated with LC splice on pigtails using the CamoSplicer from nanoFIBER™. There was a total of 144 136 splices between the 5 buildings. All fibers were tested with Softing FiberXpert OTDR 5000.
In Summary, AHRC provided a bid proposal for a fiber infrastructure buildout at Camp Loyaltown to meet their needs for a reliable and fast internet connection. The concerns of meeting deadlines and interrupting the
2023 Camp was a huge consideration. The TRAXyL/nanoFIBER™ solution met or exceeded all bid requirements and was awarded the project. The execution of their daily plan proved to AHRC that this was the right solution
for the Camp.
A full Technical Paper is available upon request.
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