Advice on damaged network fibre conduit.
Hi Sparkies
I have hit a fibre network conduit in the garden but luckily the fibre isn't damaged. There is an old, redundant copper landline cable in there that I damaged.
My question is, can I patch the PVC pipe and walk away leaving some residual moisture trapped Inside? Or will the whole section need replacing and sealed up?
I have opened a support ticket with the provider and awaiting the official report on repairs.
10 replies
Reminder for everyone, call your local authorities before digging, always. In my state we have JULIE. They'll come out and mark anythhng you should avoid.
California will do it free in most areas.
Yeah it's free here too.
Honestly would just go hands off and tell the provider there’s water involved. They’ll likely need to repair and dig it up anyway.
The area is currently wet because it's been raining heavily the past week. There is no standing water here and the conduit is under rock and clay where the hole is about 600mm deep.
The pipe where it was broken had sloppy clay mud in the crack so I splashed it with water so I could get a better look at it. Hence the picture. I figured it was already wet and full of mud so a little splash wouldn't change anything except remove the mud.
If the conduit belongs to the provider just let them fix it. If it belongs to you the water isn't going to hurt the fiber, the next pullbox or manhole is probably already full of water.
The fiber very likely has its' own waterproof sleeve and is likely to be fine, but I would fix it right, if I had the means, i.e. replace the conduit. Wait and hear what the provider says.
Another fiber-seeking backhoe mishap.
Close, it was a crowbar and shovel to plant a wisteria.
Careful with wisteria, its dangerously invasive some places.