Project Description
ABNA provided the design and construction phase sup- port for the North Detention Basin Fiber Optic Improve- ment Project located at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. This approximate 3000 feet of fiber optic improvement allows the North Airfield Vault (NALV), Building #2, and the North Detention Basin Pump Station (NDBPS) to com- municate. The fiber optic route connected the North Airfield Lighting Vault west to Building #2 near the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Training Facility then to the south to the North Detention Basin Pump Station near the newly constructed North Detention Basin. ABNA’s engineers provided final construction drawings, technical specification and opinion of probable costs while aptly engineering the following design considerations: strategic location of hand holes and man- holes; best optimal directional bore locations for routing fiber line underneath the Runway 14L-32R pavement, as well as a vital FAA duct bank containing live FAA FOTS cables, and the taxiway access road F1; traffic control; utility coordination with the Chicago Utility Alert Network (CUAN) including ComEd and AT&T; in addition to multiple coordination with PMO and FAA representatives. For the construction phase support, ABNA’s leadership managed the 30” depth installation of the 12 strand, single mode fiber optic cable. This involved trench excavation and backfill of the open cut installation of 1280 linear feet of 4” diameter conduit and directional boring of 1461 linear feet of 4” diameter conduit; placement of hand-holes and manhole structures; maintenance of traffic in this restricted area of the Airport; concrete pavement restoration; landscaping and seeding.
