Cable pulling for power and communications infrastructure

How we solved it

Duct routes for power and communication lines on industrial and commercial sites were designed, and trenching, ducting, cable pulling and termination were carried out by our own team.

The route was planned not only for today's need: spare duct capacity was left for lines to be added later. Power and data lines were run in separate ducts, removing any risk of interference.

Before the trench was closed, warning tapes were laid and the route was recorded, so the line's position is never in doubt during later excavation work.

More ducts were laid than the current number of lines required. The cost of an empty duct is very small next to the cost of a future excavation, which makes leaving spare capacity almost always the right call.

Power and data lines were run in separate ducts. That separation removes the risk of interference and means a future intervention on the data line alone does not require touching the power line. Duct colours were separated too — red for power and a different colour for data — to prevent confusion on site.

Trench backfill was layered so that the load above is spread across the duct. Backfilling straight with coarse material crushes the duct over time or puts point pressure on the cable. Fine material was laid around the duct before the upper backfill was completed.

Warning tapes were laid and the route was recorded before the trench was closed. Because a bucket meets the tape before the cable in any later excavation, the tape prevents the line being cut. The route record means the maintenance team never has to guess where the line runs.