TDF presents a new method of ecological deployment of optical fiber called “Greenpose”, aiming to be more virtuous.
The fiber runs along our roads, sometimes visible on poles but sometimes hidden underground. The infrastructure operator TDF has established a partnership with the civil engineering company OT Engineering to set up in the Loire Valley a new technique for burying fiber cables in an ecological way, compared to the traditional deployment of fiber.
This technique called greenpose concretely consists of depositing a binder mixed with the earth to replace the concrete. In an explanatory video, the infrastructure operator presents a Greenpose site representing nearly 7 kilometers of civil engineering in the municipality of Continvoir. To bring fiber to around 600 inhabitants by the end of the year, the company OTE will therefore be able to use its method developed over the past three years.
On this site, it is therefore the treatment of the ground which is favored by directly using the materials already on site which are treated with a binder. The operation is quite simple to understand: a reel holder unrolls the tubes containing the fiber at the front of this mobile construction site and then comes a single truck responsible for four actions. He digs the trench, treats the cuttings then places the sheaths at the bottom of the excavation and backfills it directly with the earth to which this famous binder has been added. A third vehicle equipped with a compacting wheel then takes care of packing the trench to then be cleaned with a sweeper and a mini-excavator. The site thus uses 3 machines instead of 5.
In the video, the OTE manager explains the many benefits of this practice. The first point and the ecological contribution since the Greenpose allows us to reduce our carbon impact by 95% compared to a conventional method, i.e. 33 tons of Co2 saved per km of fiber deployed. This saving is made possible by the absence of the “broom of the mixer trucks that gravitate around a traditional building site“, there is no waste to evacuate or treat and the use of concrete is much reduced compared to the traditional method.
The safety of users is also highlighted, since the trenches do not remain open at the edge of the road. In addition, this technique allows a very fast execution speed, up to 350 meters of fiber deployed per hour. On the Val de Loire Fiber RIP operated by TDF, the objective is to produce 200 kilometers of fiber deployed using Greenpose technology.
