CASE STUDY

MaxCell^® Edge Fiber Pathway Solutions Bridge the Mighty Mississippi

As America doubles down on infrastructure spending, the condition, safety, efficiency and reliability of its bridges has been brought to the forefront.

Connecting the Digital Divide

What Lies Beneath: Fiber Pathway Solutions

With utility lines, telecommunications lines and various other cabling being attached underneath bridges, it is important to understand what lies beneath these bridges and what it takes to get it there.

MaxCell® delivers fiber pathway solutions for the deployment of critical infrastructure on bridges, railway spans, viaducts and overpasses. The team knows the challenges related to installing telecommunications infrastructure under bridges and how bridges play a key component in America’s connectivity.

Boring under a river can be time consuming and very expensive. It is much easier to deploy the critical communications infrastructure underneath existing or new bridges. There are some challenges though that bridges pose when installing pathways for fiber optic cables.

Weight Load Guidelines

Weight load guidelines for bridge installations can limit the number of traditional pathways being furnished for communications cabling.

Limited Space

Space is usually limited, making for tight workspaces to maneuver materials and equipment.

Under-bridge installations can become a chokepoint for critical communications cabling deployments.

Weather Extremes and Harsh Environments

Bridges are exposed to the elements, so communications infrastructure must be protected from outdoor exposure to harsh weather, salt water and moisture.

Bridges expand and contract on a regular basis because of temperature variances, so the product associated with a communications installation on a bridge must not be affected by temperature variations.

Standards for Individual Project Requirements

The product being used for bridge-related infrastructure installations must meet local, state and/or Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) jurisdiction requirements specified for any of these projects.

Safety Risks

Many bridge-related infrastructure project installations are considered dangerous as they are usually over water and/or are at higher elevations.

There is often limited visibility because much of the infrastructure work under the bridges is done at night to lessen bridge delays caused by the construction.

Successful Bridge Installations With Fiber Optic Innerduct from MaxCell

So what makes the flexible, multi-celled fiber optic fabric innerduct solution from MaxCell the perfect solution for bridges, viaducts, railway spans and overpasses? It is specifically designed for network construction and for easy pathway creation.

The unique fabric construction allows MaxCell Edge to conform to the shape of cables placed within, greatly reducing the wasted space associated with rigid innerduct. MaxCell Edge occupies 1/7th of the volume of HDPE which allows installers more room to maneuver in tight workspaces. With space constraints a problem on bridge-related installations, using MaxCell Edge is a game changer.

Another benefit of MaxCell Edge is that it is 1/8th of the weight of traditional HDPE while providing as much as three times the pathways. This minimizes the weight load on bridges.

The MaxCell team has had many engineers tell them that they prefer to utilize MaxCell Edge on their bridge installations because it expands and contracts eight times less than polyethylene conduit.

While MaxCell Edge has been used in bridge-related communications projects for decades, there are some projects that have been more interesting than others. For example, the bridges that span the mighty Mississippi River show the versatility and flexibility of the solution.

Crescent City Connection

Formerly the Greater New Orleans Bridge (GNO), the Crescent City Connection (CCC) is the fifth-longest cantilever bridge in the world and the farthest downstream bridge on the Mississippi River. This bridge opened for traffic in 1958 and is the fifth most traveled bridge in the U.S. It is also the widest and most heavily traveled bridge on the lower Mississippi. The team completed an installation of approximately 20,000 feet of MaxCell Edge across this span. Starting on one side of the river, they ran MaxCell Edge up the bridge columns and across the entire length of the structure over the Mississippi River and ultimately ended at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. As the project traversed this span, it had multiple bends and turns that had to be made to complete the process. In one 500-foot cable run, there were six 90-degree bends that needed to be made. While this did not follow industry recommendations by the NEC and BICSI (not more than three 90-degree bends in an approximate 400 foot run), it was necessary because of the tight working constraints on this installation and limited access for the usage of cherry pickers or other equipment under the bridge.

Vicksburg Railroad Bridge

Originally built in 1930 for use as both a railroad bridge and for motor vehicle traffic, the Vicksburg Railroad Bridge was the first bridge over the Mississippi River south of Memphis. It transitioned to being utilized as a railroad bridge in the late 1990s and is still a vitally important railroad bridge. It spans the Mississippi River between Delta, Louisiana and Vicksburg, Mississippi and is used by the Canadian Kansas City Railway. Approximately 20,000 feet of MaxCell Edge has been installed to carry communications infrastructure underneath the span of this bridge to transmit critical shipping information for multiple railroad companies.

Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge (also known as the Luling-Destrehan Bridge)

This cable-stayed bridge crosses the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. With a total length of 10,699 feet, it is one of the longest bridges in the world. This bridge also has over 20,000 feet of MaxCell Edge installed underneath it to provide a pathway for communications infrastructure. Some sections of this project resulted in long pull lengths, with one particularly long pull of approximately 3,000 feet.

Sunshine Bridge

Located in St. James Parish, Louisiana, this cantilever bridge is a convenient Mississippi River crossing for residents of Baton Rouge and plays an important role in storm evacuation and in industrial development along the Mississippi. Besides providing a transportation route to and from this area, this bridge is also being utilized to carry communications infrastructure along the same route across the water. MaxCell Edge was attached to the bridge to provide the pathway for the cabling to cross the river at this point.

I-10 Lake Pontchartrain Bridge

Consisting of twin parallel concrete raised bridges, the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge crosses the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana from New Orleans to southeastern Louisiana. In the last decade, over 120,000 feet of MaxCell Edge has been installed on this bridge. The pull boxes were built into the bridge and spaced roughly 2,500 feet apart. The Louisiana DOT chose MaxCell Edge for this project because it does not have the thermal expansion and contraction problems that can be experienced with traditional HDPE installations.

Veterans Memorial Bridge (also known as the Gramercy Bridge)

This cantilever bridge over the Mississippi River connects Gramercy, Louisiana to St. John the Baptish Parish. It is the second newest Mississippi River bridge in Louisiana. This bridge is 165 feet above the water and is 3,101 feet long. This was a challenging deployment as reels of MaxCell Edge had to be lowered over the side of the bridge and dropped down 15 feet to the catwalk under the bridge to complete the installation. As a point of reference, a 5,300-foot reel of MaxCell Edge weighs approximately 600 pounds.