The MBTA will spend roughly $80 million to put in an underground fiber cable community, which is able to purpose to enhance security throughout the commuter rail system and scale back service disruptions.
The new infrastructure will progressively change the aerial fiber community that the T carried out in 2020 to help the federally-mandated optimistic practice management system.
All commuter and freight railroads are required to function PTC, which screens practice actions to stop collisions and derailments.
“We’re going to transition the communications portion of that system from the aerial network to the new buried network,” mentioned Project Manager Jaime Garmendia. “This helps defend the communications of the system.
“Buried fiber is a lot more resistant to extreme weather and the impact of third-party activities, whether that’s construction, accidents (or) treefall.”
Garmendia mentioned the prevailing aerial community has skilled fiber breaks at a better price than anticipated over the previous couple of years.
A “fair amount” of spare fiber was constructed into the system in anticipation of about 5 breaks per yr, however greater than triple that quantity, or 16, occurred final yr, he mentioned.
Each time a break happens, and a brand new splice is launched into the system by becoming a member of two fiber optic cables collectively to restore the injury, the standard of the communications infrastructure degrades and its reliability decreases, Garmendia mentioned.
And because the community’s built-in spare fiber dwindles, he mentioned, extra commuter rail service disruptions are wanted to finish these sorts of repairs.
“So, the intent of this project,” Garmendia mentioned, “is to bury a new fiber optic cable network in the right of way itself to improve the system resiliency and allow for that 100% uptime.”
The underground cable set up will begin on the Fitchburg and Lowell strains, the place essentially the most fiber breaks have occurred, and proceed on future rail strains as extra funding turns into out there, Garmendia mentioned.
The undertaking may even join the brand new commuter rail dispatch heart at Iron Horse Park in North Billerica, a part of the Lowell Line, to the prevailing wayside sign system, he mentioned.
The work might be carried out by Boston-based McCourt Construction Co., as a part of a $78.81 million contract accepted Thursday by the MBTA Board of Directors.
The contract additionally consists of two choices, totaling $12.96 million, for the set up of further fiber optic cable infrastructure in the identical conduits on the Fitchburg and Lowell strains, Garmendia mentioned.
“We’ve had buried fiber for over 20 years on the Old Colony Lines,” Garmendia mentioned, referencing the branches that join the South Shore to downtown Boston. “And it’s been very easy to maintain compared to the aerial network we’ve had for only a few years.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”