At 08:43 PM 02/02/2023, Eric Kuhnke wrote:

There is "microtrenching" and then there is microtrenching. Very different things are sometimes described by the same name. Some of what Google tried to go was exceedingly shallow, like 4 inches down. Cheap microtrenching done too quick and too shallow has given the concept a bad name.

The local ILEC is doing that here - they use a spade to make a little slot in the customer's lawn and shove the cable in. If they have to cross a driveway or sidewalk, they dig out the expansion joint, shove the cable in and dump some cold patch in the gap. If they have to run multiple cables, they use a concrete saw to make the gap a bit wider.

There is microtrenched fiber in Vancouver BC that is close to 20 years old now throughout the downtown core that is nearly problem-free. The difference is that it is 12+ inches down and was installed using large, noisy, water cooled diamond-grit concrete saws cutting deep slits into the joints between streets and curbs, or concrete curbs and sidewalks, duct inserted, then backfilled with grouting. It's deep enough where it crosses roads that re-paving the road by first grinding off the top several inches of surface is extremely unlikely to disturb the duct.

I'm familiar with the slightly more robust technique deployed by companies like Teraspan. I'm sure it works much better in the milder climate in BC. There are microtrench/VIF networks in Toronto and Ottawa as well. A few years ago, they were re-building one of the roads in the downtown core in Toronto, and the entire microtrenched network (mini handholes and all) had been lifted out of the street area and laid on the sidewalk, and protected with barriers and safety cones, etc. I just shook my head... -- Clayton Zekelman Managed Network Systems Inc. (MNSi) 3363 Tecumseh Rd. E Windsor, Ontario N8W 1H4 tel. 519-985-8410 fax. 519-985-8409