The Aircraft Research Association runs aerodynamic testing facilities at Manton Lane in Bedford. Wind tunnel testing produces large volumes of data, and that data has to move off the test equipment quickly and arrive intact. A copper network was never going to carry it. ARA needed an optical fibre backbone across the site, designed for the bandwidth they use today and with headroom for what comes next.
The brief
Design and install a singlemode optical fibre infrastructure linking the buildings across the site. It had to carry high bandwidth test data, survive a working industrial environment, and leave spare capacity so that future equipment could be connected without another civils programme.
ARA also needed the finished network documented properly. A fibre backbone that nobody has recorded becomes a liability the first time someone needs to trace a link.
What we found on site
A research facility is a working environment with its own pressures. Test programmes are booked in advance and they are expensive to interrupt. Cable routes had to avoid areas where testing was underway, and any work near sensitive equipment had to be agreed in advance rather than assumed.
We surveyed the site before quoting. That means walking the routes, checking existing containment, identifying where ducts already ran and where new ones would be needed, and agreeing which buildings connected back to which. The survey is what turns a rough idea into a fixed price.
What we did
We designed the fibre routes around the buildings that needed connecting, choosing singlemode throughout so that distance and bandwidth would not become a limiting factor later. Singlemode costs a little more to terminate than multimode, and it is the right decision on a site where the equipment keeps getting faster.
Cabling was installed through existing containment where it was available and through new ducted routes where it was not. External runs were ducted and protected. Internal runs were installed on proper containment rather than cable tied to whatever was nearby.
Every fibre was fusion spliced. Fusion splicing gives a lower loss joint than mechanical alternatives and it holds up over time, which matters on a backbone that is expected to stay in service for years. Our engineers splice as part of their normal work rather than subcontracting it out, so the quality is consistent across the whole job.
Testing and handover
Every link was tested with an OTDR and a light source and power meter before handover. OTDR traces show where loss is occurring along the fibre, which means a splice that is marginal gets found and redone during the installation rather than discovered months later when something stops working.
ARA received the full test results, as built drawings showing the routes and terminations, and labelling that matches the documentation. The installation carries a 25 year manufacturer system warranty, backed by our own two year labour warranty.
The result
A singlemode fibre backbone across the site, built to carry the bandwidth that aerodynamic testing demands, with spare capacity designed in and a full set of records to go with it. ARA can connect new equipment without starting from scratch, and when they need to trace a link, the drawings tell them where it goes.
Planning something similar?
Fibre projects on live sites go wrong for predictable reasons. The route is agreed in a meeting rather than walked, the splicing is subcontracted to whoever is available, or the testing is signed off on a visual check. Each of those saves a little money at install and costs considerably more later.
We survey first, splice with our own engineers and test every link before we hand over. If you are planning a fibre installation and want a fixed price based on what is actually there, we will come and look.
Draft: specific figures, dates and any quotes to be confirmed with ARA before publication.