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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical DC fiber cut: field report
After a hot tip on the location of the fiber cut, and with Map Quest in hand, we went to search out the location of todays 500+ DS3 DC fiber cut. We were looking for a bunch of white vans and pick-ups with guys in hard hats and orange vests along the train tracks in Northern Laurel, MD - our search was fruitfull and within 10 minutes of locating the tracks we had found the scene of the cut. It is located off the Baltimore Washington Parkway at the Route 32 exit about 1/2 mile from the NSA (hmm) along CWX railroad tracks. About 7 vehicles with WorldCom and Wiltel logo's and about 15 people strung out along a dusty portion of the tracks. In the distance a large back hoe and a construction company van, not a good sign. A piece of black cable about the width of a quarter lay strung along the tracks and one piece could be seen sticking out of the dirt, the white innards splayed out. We had found the cut. There was a gentleman with a white hard hat that said "WorldCom" sitting near a pit with another person in hard-hat hunched over a portable work-bench working on a cable. We asked what happened and no one knew, but obviously from the back-hoe and railroad construction in the area, not much explanation was needed. What time did it happen? "About 9am" Who's cable was it? "WorldCom - we lease fiber to all the other carriers". I mentioned we had heard about it on the Internet and everyone seemed to perk up. Yes, they were famous. The scale of the cut was beyond anyones guess. It was a single cable laid in the dirt carrying 144 strands of fiber. How many DS-3's this was could be a lot more then 500 DS3's. As we left it struck me that this cut was not if, but when. And more cuts like it. There was no protection for the cable, no markers of the cable location. I was also left with the impression that once right-aways are cleared, laying cable seems like a relativly cheap operation considering the cost of bandwidth over it's life-time. I wonder if there's a FAQ on becoming a cable maven.. --stb p.s. no estimate on what it will be up.
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