Northrop Grumman UVN Fiber Rings

Northrop Grumman is one of the United States’ leading defense contractors with 90,000 employees in all 50 states and in more than 25 countries. Headquartered in Falls Church, VA, Northrop Grumman has national defense and security facilities in Weber and Box Elder County that provide services for the Department of Defense critical to national security.

CobbFendley worked with TCA/AT&T, one of our main fiber clients, as a part of the JK Communications Project Team to provide dark fiber UVN rings to Northrop Grumman facilities in northern Utah and Hill AFB. Our team also determined right-of-way needs and secured excavation permits for the General Contractor. We were able to phase the ring design focused on the dominant side where we could quickly turn up more facilities while the full ring was completed.

To maintain the project’s budget, we planned cost saving measures such as utilizing existing duct and implementing cable plowing as a construction method along rural UDOT highways. Cable plowing is an alternate to trenching or boring that utilizes a plow system to excavate and bury cable. This construction method is ideal for shallower digs as it provides minimal disruption to the landscape. Early on, we identified and established areas where the vegetation was dense in order to use the most cost effective and productive construction measures.

CobbFendley coordinated with several regulatory agencies for permits including:

• UDOT – Region 1 and Region 2
• Counties – Weber and Davis
• City of Ogden, City of Roy and Private build on Hill AFB
• Union Pacific Rail Road
• ISP coordination of building entrance and vaults
• Pacificorp – Rocky Mountain Power
• Weber Davis Canal District

The safety of our crews and future maintenance crews is our top priority, therefore we strategically placed splice points in locations away from traffic.