Cable pulling from manhole 1

[randall5]

I am working on a project where we have to pull cable from a manhole into a building through approx. 130 ft of new 4 in. conduit. The cable that needs to be pulled in is 200 pr telephone, .75 hardline and 36/12 fiber. We have experience in pulling through conduits, manholes, etc., but this one is a little different and I don't want anything to go wrong. So, first question is, should I use a cable tugger? If so, how do you estimate the pulling force required to size the tugger appropriately? The, what is the best way to attach the cables? If I attach the pulling grip to the 200 pr, do you just tape on the other two cables or should I use a multi grip assembly? Again, I understand the physical aspects of the pull, I just want to make sure I am considering everything before getting in the hole. Thanks for any insight.

Randy

 

[youcandoit]

sounds like you dont have enough experience pulling multiple type of media in manholes and the job should go to someone else...that's just my bit off negativity...

 

[randall5]

Well,gee thanks....I guess.

The job can't and won't go to someone else. We will be doing the pull within 2 weeks, and perhaps I am being positive, but I feel that we can do it, pun intended.

 

[franklin97355]

I'd pull a interduct for the fiber and install the fiber after the main pull. Not heard of .75 hardline

 

[randall5]

Sorry, .5 hardline. Read the wrong thing.

Randy

 

[franklin97355]

Randy, it's the hardline I'm having the problem with, not it's dimension. Guess I just don't keep up with all the names of things. Also I've been out of the plant side for quite a while.

 

[youcandoit]

if it's exterior i would use outside plant fiber no interduct and outside plant copper. wrap the 200pr with friction tape and the fiber also. put them in one head.plan to leave yourself some slack on the fiber. if you can, pull by the kevlar braiding. as far as the tugger you wrap the pull line in such a way that your tension on the handline determines how much effort the tugger puts into the cable from the conduit. use lots of wire ease. if you got several bulky technicians a tugger may not be neccesary. use surge suppresion on your 200pr.

I too have no idea what a hardline is?

 

[youcandoit]

also your outside plant must stop 50' inside the building unless it's in EMT or RIGID. Someone correct me if i'm wrong

 

[randall5]

OK, thanks everyone for the replies, and I apologize for any sarcasm (youcandoit). Perhaps a little more info will be helpful. The cables were existing in a building that is undergoing a complete renovation and were pulled back into the manhole and capped until the new MDF is ready. The EC put in new 4 in conduits to the new MDF and we are responsible for pulling the cables back in. I have conducted a preliminary exam of the cables from above the hole. The hardline is a backbone CATV feed, usually very stiff due to the hard aluminum sheathing around the dielectric. My intention was to pull by the 200 pr with the coax attached to it, and the fiber attached to a separate break-away swivel pulling eye. I don't think that we will use an innerduct because it was not spec'd. My biggest issue is with the tugger. We don't have one and would need to rent one for this pull. I want to make sure it is sized correctly. Also, we will be terminating the 200 pr onto 3M BET protectors.

Randy

 

[hbiss]

Hardline" is a generic term for solid sheath coax normally used for CATV. I installed miles of it.

I hope what you are pulling is flooded for wet locations, anything underground regardless of whether it's in conduit is considered a wet location.

I would use separate grips for the 200pr and the hardline. Depending on how many bends you have you probably won't need a tugger. 130' isn't very far and 4" is pretty big. I also second the recommendation of innerduct for the fiber. You can use lube to make the pull easier (recommended). Should be able to do it with a couple of guys feeding and a couple pulling. We have tied the rope to the truck many times. Again it depends on the layout.

-Hal

 

[randall5]

Youcandoit, yes you are correct, outdoor rated cables can enter the building only 50 ft before being terminated/protected. After that, they must conform to the interior building space requirements, i.e. plenum rated if the celing is a plenum. However, riser rated cable is allowed within a plenum if it is wholly encased by a steel conduit. I beleive that this is the correct interpretation of the code. For instance, you are not allowed to bring an OSP cable into the bldg. splice it to indoor cable, extend it several hundred feet and then place your protection. The protection must be within the first 50 ft. of entry, I think. This is probably one of those things that people could hae diverging opinions on.

Thanks Hal, for the input. I am starting to put together my concept for the pull. The one difficulty I have is that this jobsite requires an employee to be OSHA certified and currently only 2 of our employees are, so my manpower is limited. More guys are scheduled to take the class, but it may not be in time for when I have to have this pull done. Ah, the beauty of contracting.

Randy