Challenge
SpiderPlow™ was assigned the contract to build 2,000 kilometer fiber optic backbone laying two 50mm conduits throughout Nigeria for Nokia Siemens Network (NSN).
The project started off with a six month delay in April 2008 but still had to be finished by the end of 2009. If NSN could still deliver that project within the deadline, then extension projects will be awarded to them too.
Nigeria is a hostile environment and one of the most conflicted regions in Africa. The vast number of tribal territories made NSN’s land access permit negotiations and compensation claims for lost crops a very challenging exercise. Open trenching was to be avoided wherever possible.
Challenge Resolution
The flexibility of the SPIDERPLOW™ meant it was possible to have the front wheels running on the surfaced road whilst inserting the cables into the ground with the rear wheels lifted to avoid damaging to the crop that was growing along the road edge.
SPIDERPLOW’s™ speed of operation (sometimes 13 km per day) ensured that workers and equipment were not exposed for too long at risky and unsafe locations.
SpiderPlow™ had to guarantee a minimum km of cable average per day so two plows together with two winch trucks were mobilised to Nigeria.
Results
A daily average of 8 km was reached after the first SPIDERPLOW™ started and so the second unit was never required to be started up.