March 3, 2020
THE STAKKABOX ULTIMA CONNECT CHAMBER WITH COMPOSITE COVERS
The STAKKABOX Ultima Connect Chamber proved to be a natural fit for a telecommunications infrastructure replacement, owing to its ease of installation, flexibility to site conditions, and the ability to install the chamber without outages to in-place fiber cable.
THE CHALLENGE
Telecommunications providers use pull boxes to splice fiber optic cables and store additional cable slack. Over time, plastic pull boxes deteriorate and need replacing both to protect components and to allow more room for cable
storage and additional fiber lines to meet ever-increasing demand.
In this replacement project for a telecommunications provider in Ottawa, Canada, existing fiber optic lines and conduit were running through three sides of a pull/splice box. Typically, to replace such a box without a break in service, a large “mouse-hole” must be cut into the new box on any side where it is being placed over existing cable. Adding these large holes usually compromises the integrity of the box and causes it to fail prematurely.
In addition, such projects frequently come with a degree of uncertainty, since it often is not known exactly how deep the replacement box will need to be – creating the need for guesswork.
THE SOLUTION
For this effort, Oldcastle Infrastructure provided one 36″ x 60″ x 54″ STAKKABOX Ultima Connect Chamber unit with composite covers. The unit was delivered flat-packed (unassembled) and then constructed in the field.
Installation was extremely straightforward:
| An excavator was used to dig the hole and remove the existing box.
| The ground was leveled for placement of the new chamber assembly.
| The chamber was built from the ground up, using components and connecting pegs, one layer at a time.
| As the rising walls of the chamber approached conduit or fiber optic lines, the chamber components were easily cut with a saw to allow for building around the obstructions.
| The layers were built to the required final grade.
| The frame was placed and screws were used to secure the composite covers to it.
The total time for installation was approximately four hours (one half-day).
“We foresee substantial time and cost savings when replacing or upgrading pull/splice boxes— quickly and with minimal impact.”
Chris Schultz | Product Manager
BENEFITS
CUSTOMIZED DEPTH
The STAKKABOX Ultima Connect Chamber system gave the provider the flexibility to dig the hole and place the box as deep as necessary without concern for the box’s ultimate height. During the building process, the number of layers could be easily adjusted to bring the box’s final height to grade level- a huge advantage over the typical installation.
NO INTERRUPTION IN SERVICE
Because the STAKKABOX is constructed around the existing infrastructure, it minimizes outages when upgrading/replacing a current pull box. Workers simply drill or cut holes in the Ultimate Connect layers where necessary as the box is built. This process allows existing fiber optic cable and conduit to pass through the sides without affecting any lines currently in service.
This feature is especially important in confined urban environments that often have both deteriorating equipment/ infrastructure and high demand due to the population density.
NO IMPACT ON BOX INTEGRITY
The layered system for integrating existing cable does not impact the integrity of the box, unlike the large holes that must be cut in typical replacement boxes. The Stakkabox can be customized to meet the unique site requirements while ensuring a load resistance well above the ANSI/SCTE Tier 22 standard.
SPEEDY & COST-EFFECTIVE INSTALLATION
The STAKKABOX Ultima Connect Chamber provides huge advantages in installation time, ease, and labor effort. In as little as four hours, the chamber can be built and installed in the field with lightweight components following a straightforward assembly process.
The telecommunications provider was extremely impressed with the innovation of the Stakkabox. They foresee substantial time and cost savings when replacing or upgrading pull/splice boxes—quickly and with minimal impact.