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Table of Contents
List of Figures.............................................................................................................................................1
1.0. Deployment Process/Standards........................................................................................................2
1.1. Access/Right of Way...................................................................................................................2
1.1.1. Wayleaves/Permits...............................................................................................................2
1.1.2. Notices.................................................................................................................................2
1.2. Civil Works.................................................................................................................................3
1.2.1. Trenching Standards............................................................................................................3
1.2.2. Paved Surfaces.....................................................................................................................3
1.2.3. Road Crossing......................................................................................................................3
1.2.4. Thrust Boring/Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD).........................................................4
1.2.5. Duct Laying.........................................................................................................................4
1.2.6. Backfilling and Warning Tape.............................................................................................5
1.2.7. Duct Tests............................................................................................................................6
1.2.8. Manholes and Handholes Installation..................................................................................6
1.3. Fiber Works.................................................................................................................................7
1.3.1. Fiber Blowing/Pulling..........................................................................................................7
1.4. Absolute Safety Rules..................................................................................................................8
1.4.1. The Absolute Road Safety Rules.........................................................................................8
1.4.2. The Absolute Work at Height Rules....................................................................................8
1.4.3. The Absolute Electrical Safety Rules...................................................................................8

List of Figures
Figure 1: Piloting standards.........................................................................................................................4
Figure 2: Warning Signs and Signages........................................................................................................5
Figure 3: Convenient Material for Bedding and Padding............................................................................6
Figure 4: Backfilling of both normal soil and rocky areas...........................................................................7

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 1.0. Deployment Process/Standards
This section is devoted to the description of the optical cable installation methods and activities
that must be carried out correctly to ensure successfully deployment of fiber optic cable.
1.1. Access/Right of Way

1.1.1. Wayleaves/Permits

A wayleave/permit (right-of-way) refers to the permission granted to use someone else’s

property to deploy infrastructure. It is therefore mandatory for the supervisors to ensure the
following with regards to the wayleaves
a. A wayleave agreement mustbe obtained prior to undertaking any installation or
excavation work.
b. No work should commence on a public roadway without first obtaining a wayleave from
the road authorities concerned.
c. The information contained in the wayleave should be accurate to indicate the positions of
all other services to avoid interference or damage.
d. Supervisors and team members must familiarize themselves with the standards and
special conditions as set out in permits.
e. A copy of the wayleave/permitshall always be displayed on site.
1.1.2. Notices

These notices are meant to offers awareness and critical information to the surrounding
community/public that will be directly impacted by deployment of the infrastructure. It is
therefore mandatory for the supervisors to ensure the following with regards to the notices.
a. For any planned work that should interrupt normal activities within a public and private
property, a notification should be issued to parties affected either through announcement
on the local newspapers or written notice to the parties to be affected by the fiber
deployment activities.
b. Businesses / property owners shall be informed one week (7-days) in advance of any
construction activities commencing near their properties.
c. These notices will announce upcoming work tasks and potential impacts, such as traffic,
parking, and access changes, noise, utility interruptions, vibration, etc.
d. If a private driveway or footway constructed with non-standard materials is to be
excavated, the owner of the property concerned must be informed in advance and in
writing of the intended work.

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 1.2. Civil Works

To effectively implement the civil works, the following processes and standards must take place;
i. Route marking of the trench by use chalk and strings needs to be done to ensure straight
trenches.
ii. Pilot holeswhich are the most effective way of determining the position of a trench
relative to other services need to be dug at intervals of between 30 and 50m especially
where the new trench crosses existing services.

Figure 1: Piloting standards

iii. Barricading and Signages must be put up in place as demonstrated later in this section.
1.2.1. Trenching Standards

a. The trench shall be of 1.2m depth and 0.4m wide or as stipulated in the wayleave.
b. Where it is not possible to obtain the specified minimum trench depth, the client
(Vodafone) must be consulted.
c. The trench depth in hard rock conditions shall be 0.6m deep with a minimum depth of
300mm backfill cover over the uppermost duct. Protection in the form of concrete slabs
needs to be done on top of the padding material before backfilling.
d. The concrete slab shall have a strength of 20 Mpa reinforced with high tensile wires and
measure; 75mm thick by 300mm wide, and 900mm in length.
1.2.2. Paved Surfaces

a. On paved sidewalks or verges, next to roads or streets, a cast in-situ concrete or asphalt
backfilling shall be sloped to not impede pedestrian traffic.
b. In these instances, the Hand holes or manholes installation shall be such that it is not
more than 50mm higher than the surrounding paved sidewalk.
1.2.3. Road Crossing

a. No work should commence on a public roadway without first obtaining a wayleave

from the road authority concerned.
b. Work carried out on busy roads, should be restricted to outside the following periods;
from 06:30 to 09:00 and 15:30 to 18:00, to ensure the free flow of traffic during peak
hours.

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 c. Use only signs that appear in the local Road Traffic Signs Manual.

Figure 2: Warning Signs and Signages

1.2.4. Thrust Boring/Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)

a. The location and depth of underground services must be pre-determined before drilling
can commence - as sudden deviations are not possible to bypass obstacles.
b. The depth of any hole drilled for the installation of a new service, must be at least 1.5m
below surface of the road, or as per client specs and wayleave conditions.
c. The duct/s shall extend a distance of at least 0.5m beyond the edge of the road.
d. All excavated material and equipment must be placed and demarcated in such a way to
not inconvenience vehicles and pedestrians.
e. No person may off-load on a public road, any materials that are likely to cause damage to
a road surface.
1.2.5. Duct Laying

a. Ducts shall be un-coiled using a vertical or horizontal de-coiler. De-coilers are meant to
prevent twisting, bending or kinking from occurring during installation.
b. Once the duct coils are secured inside the de-coiler, only then can the containment straps
on the duct coil be cut. Next, rotate the de-coiler slowly to unwind the duct out in one
plane.
c. Ducts shall be laid in a straight line between MH/HHs. It is never ideal to have
directional changes, but if unavoidable - keep the bending radius as big as possible and
offset is in the same direction.
d. As the ducts are laid and jointed, install end caps on ducts at all MH/HHs to prevent
water and dust from entering.

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e. Care shall be taken to ensure that no dirt collects between the duct and coupler to deliver
an airtight seal.
f. At MHs or HHs where the duct goes straight-through, allow for enough slack for the duct
to be secured against MH or HH walls.
1.2.6. Backfilling and Warning Tape

a. Bedding and Padding shall always be done. (Bedding is the material constituting the even
floor of an excavated trench onto which ducts are laid.The material used for bedding and
padding must be of a granular, non-cohesive nature, graded between 0.6 mm and 13 mm,
or as per client spec.)

Figure 3: Convenient Material for Bedding and Padding

b. Care shall be taken to place padding material simultaneously on both sides of the duct to
prevent lateral movement.
c. The compaction of padding shall be executed manually using a hand tamper. Duct
buckling is much more probable when the padding material does not provide adequate
side support.
d. After padding tampering, backfilling of the trench can be done.
e. Material excavated from trenches may be used as backfill, if it contains stones no greater
than 150mm in diameter, trash, or organic matter that could potentially damage ducts.
f. Backfill material is to be installed in layers not exceeding 300 mm, with each layer
compacted before the next is added.
g. After compacting the first layer of backfill, the warning/marking tape is placed.Trench
marker tape used should be at least 100mm wide and 100micron thick with Vodafone
Contact details printed. Take photos of this procedure as proof of existence. Conceivably,
the warning tape will be encountered before damaging the ducts or cable.

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 h. For concrete backfilling, check the consistency of the concrete (slump test). Tamper the
concrete using special care not to damage the ducts then check for cavities. Finally allow
for the concrete to cure (get hard).
i. Manual compaction is performed until the ducts are covered by both a 150mm layer of
padding and 300mm of backfill, at which point a vibratory plate compactor can be used.
j. The compaction of the final backfill layer shall be by means of a compaction machine
and shall be compacted to a density higher than or at least equal to that of the virgin soil
parallel to the trench.
k. After completion of the backfill, a Dynamic Cone Penetration (DCP) test must be done.
This test must be documented.

Figure 4: Backfilling of both normal soil and rocky areas

1.2.7. Duct Tests

Duct integrity testing (DIT) shall be done after backfilling. One must do an air tightness test,
sponge test and a pressure test in preparation for cable blowing. Losing 1 bar in 5min is
acceptable. Any leak greater than that, must be found and fixed.
If the duct fails DIT tests, a decision should be made on whether to use an alternative duct or to
repair of the designated duct.
1.2.8. Manholes and Handholes Installation

a. MHs and HHs shall be positioned as far away as possible from road junctions.
b. MHs and HHs must to be built according to prescribed dimensions and specifications.
c. There shall be 4pcs MHs/HHs allocated per KM of trench works.
d. Hand mixing of concrete is permitted in exceptional cases but only with written
permission from Vodafone. Concrete mix shall be such that a strength of 20MPa
(2.5:2.5:1) is obtained 28 days after pouring.

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 e. Duct entry points into HHs / MHs must be drilled, without cracking or damaging the
surrounding structure.
f. Ducts shall enter and exit HHs / MHs in line with the direction of the route, for them to
be coupled thru without any obvious effort, as a continuous duct.
g. All duct entries and exits at the HHs must be a watertight seal.
h. HH / MH external labeling should be done on the coping and NOT the lid, as lids can get
damaged and be replaced. GPS coordinates must be recorded.
i. HH / MH covers shall be finished flush with the surface area

1.3. Fiber Works

1.3.1. Fiber Blowing/Pulling

It shall be done through air-assisted installation that is based on forcing a continuous high-speed
airflow from a compressor along the cable. Moving air force pushes the cable and makes it
advance forward at a typical speed supported by the equipment.
a. Normal optical fiber cables shall be blown by compressed air into small ducts. Depending
on the cable characteristics (diameter, weight, flexibility), the duct diameter, the friction
between the cable and the duct and the number of curves in the overall duct run,
installation units may be placed every 500m, 750m or 1km. all these units should be
synchronized at about 2km/h.
b. Pre-lubrication of the ducts will increase the distance over which one unit can install a
cable. The cable itself can also be lubricated, with the help of an in-line cable lubricator
with air-bypass.

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 1.4. Absolute Safety Rules

There are three sets of absolute rules as follows;

1.4.1. The Absolute Road Safety Rules

 Always wear a seatbelt when travelling in, or operating vehicles.

 Never exceed speed limits or travel at speeds which are dangerous for the type of road,
vehicle, or condition.
 Ensure that the vehicle has statutory documents prior to road use.
 Never use a hand-held phone whilst driving and only make calls by pulling over or using
hands free devices, when it is safe to do so.
 Ensure that the vehicle is always properly maintained.
 Never work under the influence of substances (alcohol or drugs) which are illegal or
more than legal levels or where this impairs the individuals’ ability to perform tasks.
1.4.2. The Absolute Work at Height Rules

 Use a suitable safety harness that is in good working condition.

 Use fall protection equipment and arrest or restraint system.
 The harness must always be attached.
1.4.3. The Absolute Electrical Safety Rules

 Never carry out electrical work on an electrical equipment, circuits and gear, unless
qualified.
 Always switch off the mains before undertaking repairs.
 Do not touch any electrical appliance with wet hands.
 Don’t enter electrical hazards zones, unless authorized

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