SPL Splicing SPL-13 Step 13 of 13
Emergency Restoration
Restore service fast and safely after a cable cut, using OTDR to find the fault, then make the repair permanent and documented.
Crew
- Restoration Lead
- Lead Splicer
- Test Technician
- Foreman
Hazards
- Downed or Sagging Strand and Cable in Contact with Power
- Digging without an Emergency Locate
- Unprotected Excavations
- Damaged Power or Gas Lines at the Cut Site
- Traffic at the Work Site
- Invisible Laser Light from Live Fibers
Purpose
Restore service quickly and safely after a cable cut, then make the repair permanent. Customers and critical circuits are down, and the pressure is real. The crew that skips the locate or leaves undocumented temporary splices turns one outage into the next one.
When to Do It
- When the owner’s network operations reports a fiber cut or an outage on your plant.
- Use the records from SPL-12 (as-builts, splice reports and OTDR files) to find and fix the fault.
- Previous step: SPL-12 Documentation and Handoff. This is the last step; return to the splicing hub or start a new job at SPL-01.
Roles
- Restoration lead: coordinates with network operations, sets circuit priority and owns the plan from temporary to permanent repair.
- Test technician: shoots the OTDR to find the fault distance and tests every restored fiber.
- Lead splicer: makes temporary and permanent splices.
- Foreman: makes the site safe, sets traffic control and requests the emergency locate if digging is needed.
Equipment and Materials
- OTDR with launch cable.
- As-builts, splice records and the baseline OTDR files from acceptance.
- Emergency splice closure and replacement cable.
- Fusion splicer, or temporary splices where the owner allows them.
- Traffic control devices and site protection.
Safety
Procedure
- Find the distance to the fault with an OTDR.
- Coordinate with network operations. Disconnect the fiber from live equipment, or use an OTDR port and filter set up for in-service testing, before you connect the OTDR. An OTDR pulse can disrupt live service, and live light can damage the OTDR (see SPL-11).
- Set the OTDR index of refraction (IOR, the setting the OTDR uses to turn light travel time into fiber length) to the cable manufacturer’s value: per cable manufacturer or owner spec. Use the same setting as the baseline trace, so the two distances compare.
- Shoot from the nearest accessible point and compare with the baseline trace from acceptance.
- Convert the OTDR fiber length to sheath length with the cable manufacturer’s helix factor: per cable manufacturer or owner spec. In loose-tube cable the fibers run longer than the sheath, so an unconverted distance puts the fault past where it really is.
- Locate the fault on the ground using the as-builts, slack locations and the map. Remember that slack loops and route changes add cable length.
- Check the converted distance against the sheath footage marks at the nearest closure or slack loop before you request the locate or dig. A wrong distance puts the dig in the wrong place.
- Make the site safe.
- Set traffic control, check for damage to other utilities and keep the public back.
- Treat downed or sagging strand, cable and hardware as energized until the electric utility confirms they are clear. Do not touch, move or cut them. The OSHA minimum approach distances apply to work near overhead lines, not to downed lines. Around downed lines, keep everyone back, including from anything the line touches, until the electric utility says the site is safe (power owner emergency procedures; employer emergency plan; AE-04). Once the utility has cleared the site, test strand and hardware for voltage before touching, per AE-04. For manhole or vault work, follow the entry controls in SPL-02.
- If any digging is needed, request an emergency locate per your state’s one-call law and wait as that law requires (UG-03).
- Inside the tolerance zone, dig only with the methods your state law allows, typically non-powered hand tools or vacuum excavation (UG-04). Have a competent person inspect the excavation, and use a protective system where OSHA Subpart P requires it.
- Restore priority circuits first.
- Splice the circuits network operations names as priority before the rest.
- Use temporary splices or an emergency closure as the owner allows.
- Test each restored fiber and confirm service with network operations.
- Plan and complete the permanent repair.
- Replace the damaged section and place permanent closures per the owner’s design.
- Prepare cables and splice per SPL-03 to SPL-10 (including armor bonding and fiber identification against the matrix), and test every new splice per SPL-11.
- Remove temporary splices and emergency closures once the permanent repair is in, per the owner’s restoration procedure.
- Update records and as-builts.
- Record new splice points, cable lengths, closure locations and the new test files per SPL-12.
Hold Points
Records to Keep
- OTDR fault trace with the distance to the fault.
- Emergency locate ticket number, if digging was done.
- Temporary splice locations, until they are removed.
- Splice reports and test files for the permanent repair.
- Updated as-builts, matrix and closure locations.
- Restoration timeline as the owner requires.
Common Mistakes
- Digging without an emergency locate. An emergency does not suspend the one-call law. Request the locate.
- Grabbing a downed strand. Downed comm strand may be touching power. Treat it as energized until the electric utility clears it, and test for voltage per AE-04.
- Shooting a live fiber. Connecting an OTDR to a fiber still lit from the transmitting equipment can disrupt service and damage the OTDR. Coordinate with network operations and disconnect first.
- Undocumented temporary splices left in place. They can fail later and nobody knows where they are. Record them and replace them.
- Trusting OTDR distance without the as-builts. Slack and route changes move the fault on the ground. Use the records.
Standards and References
-
CGA Best Practices -
811 -
State one-call law 29 CFR 1910.268for telecom maintenance and restoration work. OSHA scope decides: 1910.268(a)(2)(i) excludes construction work, which Part 1926 governs.-
MUTCD Part 6 29 CFR 1926 Subpart Pfor excavation protective systems and competent-person inspection.49 CFR Part 196for gas pipeline damage caused by excavation, including reporting damage to the operator even when nothing leaks.- AE-04 for minimum approach distances and voltage testing, and SPL-02 for manhole and vault entry.
- UG-03 and UG-04 for locates and tolerance-zone digging.
- Owner emergency restoration procedures and network operations instructions.
- Reading OTDR Traces for how a break, the end of the fiber and the noise floor look on a trace.
On the Map
- OTDR with Launch Cable: finds the distance to the fault.
- Aerial Splice Closure: an aerial closure for the permanent repair.
- Underground Splice Closure: an underground closure for the permanent repair.
Related Tools
- OTDR Splice Average: compute the true loss of each new splice in the permanent repair.
SPL-13 · Field Checklist
Checklist
0/8items ticked
Tick each procedure step and hold point as the crew completes it. Ticks stay on this device only. They are a personal aid, not a hold-point release or a project record; follow the owner’s sign-off process.
OSP Map · Handhole Detail
On the Map
- OTDR with Launch CableInstrument that maps loss and reflectance along a fiber; launch and receive cables reveal end connectors.
- Aerial Splice ClosureSealed closure on the strand where fibers are spliced and stored.Drawn in the route profile
- Underground Splice ClosureSealed splice closure mounted on a bracket in a handhole or vault, with slack to lift it out.