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Everyone knows that unwanted water from flooding wreaks havoc on underground cable systems. Water in duct systems causes cable faults and flows into utility rooms, destroying expensive equipment. Good Polywater representatives already sell FST Foam Duct Block for electrical ducts or SDP Foam Duct Plug for communications conduits as a preventative measure against water ingress. But water eventually flows away, gets pumped out, or dries up. What's often left in its place--mud, silt, and clay--is less often discussed, but is equally problematic. This is especially true in urban settings with crowded networks that have many manholes, cable vaults, hand holes, or other access points that are vulnerable to flooding and the accumulation of debris. Silted ducts affect cable clearance and conduit fill. Installation of new cables or the removal of old cables is greatly hampered. Gritty residue also damages cable jackets during later pulls. Low-tech shoveling or more sophisticated high-pressure vacuum systems are used to clear vaults, but removing and cleansing mud from inside conduits--especially with energized cables--is a big challenge. Crews employ a variety of techniques to remove silt from ducts: rodders, air compressors, garden hoses, leaf blowers, mandrills, pressure washers, etc. These are time-consuming and labor-intensive even when successful on vacant ducts, and can be risky with energized cable. The solution is prevention. The same FST and SDP duct plugs that keep water out of those ducts will also prevent silt from entering. Creeks rise, stormy seas surge inland, dams break, water mains burst. Flooding comes in many, sometimes unexpected, forms. The people charged with designing, installing, or maintaining the integrity of underground electrical and communications systems need to know that FST and SDP are an integral part of sound conduit design. These high-performance products can prevent enormous reclamation costs that far outweigh the price of installation. Be sure to talk about manhole mud mitigation when promoting FST or SDP. |
