Lyndon Broadband Project Status Update
Prepared by Implementation Committee
September 30, 2019
The purpose of this report is to provide current project status, project schedule and explanation of factors impacting the project schedule and budget. In short:
- The estimate for completion of the mainline fiber construction has been pushed back one quarter, from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020.
- Households in the Werkner and Island Lake zones are coming online now and will be connected by the end of this year.
- Most drops in the Central Office and Boyce zones will be done this year with home installations continuing through the winter
- As drops from the road to individual homes cannot be completed while the ground is frozen, households in the remaining zones will likely not be connected until the ground thaws in the spring. Many homes will be completed by the end of Q2, 2020 with remaining households completed in Q3, 2020.
- The project is currently under budget and projected to be completed under budget.
The volunteers that make up the Implementation Committee recognize our responsibility to our fellow Lyndon Township residents for the project schedule and budget. We will continue to work diligently to bring the project to successful completion. For those that are interested in the details of the current state of the project, these are included below.
Current Project Status
The township has been divided into 11 zones or in networking terms, PONs (Passive Optical Networks), These zones represent the sequence in which construction and installations will occur. The layout of the 11 areas referenced below can be seen on this map:
LYNDON DESIGN 110518
- Werkner
- Island Lake
- Central Office
- Boyce
- Sugarloaf
- Guinan
- Long Lake
- Wild Goose
- Bruin
- Joslin
- Ellsworth
There are four basic phases of work in bringing internet service to your home:
- Mainline Boring
- Mainline Fiber Installation
- Drop Installation (bringing fiber cable from the road to the side of each home)
- Home Installation (bringing fiber into you home and attaching to network router)
Here is the current status for zones or PONS that are in progress.
Werkner
Mainline Boring complete
Mainline Fiber Installation complete
Drop Installations underway
Home Installations underway
84 Subscribers
Island Lake
Mainline Boring complete
Mainline Fiber Installation complete
Drops Installations underway
Home Installations underway
68 Subscribers
Central Office
Mainline Boring 87% complete
Mainline Fiber Installation 61% complete
79 Subscribers
Boyce
Mainline Boring 81% complete
123 Subscribers
Sugarloaf
Mainline Boring 45% complete
114 Subscribers
The project is under budget. There have been no jobsite injuries. There has been minimal environmental impact and zero trees cut down.
Project Schedule
Mainline construction completion estimates have been pushed back one quarter, from Q4 2019 to the end of Q1 2020. This new estimate will be dependent upon winter weather and availability of construction crews. Mainline fiber installation, drop installations and home installations will be completed in Werkner and Island Lake this year. We expect most drops in the Central Office, and Boyce zones to be done before the ground freezes, with home installations completed shortly thereafter. Installation of any other drops beyond these zones will be weather dependent as drops cannot be installed after the ground freezes.
Drop installation will resume for all remaining drops as soon as the ground thaws in the spring. We anticipate all households will be online in Q3, 2020.
Factors impacting the project schedule
Recently we received information from the construction company, Henkels & McCoy, regarding the construction schedule which will have an impact on the project schedule. The Henkels & McCoy contract with the township calls for mainline construction to be completed by November 11, 2019. We were informed that they do not expect to meet that completion date.
Given this information, amendments to the schedule have been made based on the following data:
Main Line Construction:
We have been told by Henkels & McCoy that they expect to complete the drilling by the end of Q1 2020. Based on the data we have regarding their current rate of construction, their rate of construction over last year’s winter months, and the number of crews they have deployed, the Implementation Committee believes this estimate to be achievable, assuming that Henkels & McCoy can maintain the current number of crews in the field and that winter weather is similar to last year.
Drops
The MEC drop crews will complete all 152 drops in the Werkner, Island Lake and most of the 202 drops in the Central Office and Boyce zones before the ground freezes. Homes will be brought online concurrent to drop installations, and home activations will continue through the winter.
Resuming drops in the spring, the 234 drops in Sugarloaf, Guinan and Long Lake should be completed with most of these homes activated in Q2, 2020 assuming the mainline construction stays on schedule
The remaining 245 drops in Wild Goose, Bruin, Joslin and Ellsworth zone should be completed and the homes activated in Q3, 2020 assuming the mainline construction stays on schedule.
None of these scheduling changes have any budgetary impact.
Again – the volunteers that make up the Implementation Committee recognize our responsibility to our fellow Lyndon Township residents for the project schedule and budget. We will continue to work diligently to bring the project to successful completion.
If you have any questions or need further information, please send email to:
Lyndonbroadband1@gmail.com