If an internet provider is bringing fiber to your area, at some point you will see crews and equipment working along your road, and possibly in the right of way along your property. If that is what brought you here, this post is for you. Here is what actually happens, stage by stage.
Before construction starts
Your internet provider, often a local cooperative, plans the network and contacts affected property owners. If a fiber drop to your home or business is planned, someone will reach out about permission and placement. Construction crews like ours work from those plans; we build where the provider has arranged for the network to go.
Shortly before work begins, you will see small flags and paint marks appear along the route. Those are utility locates, marking the buried power, gas, water and communication lines already in the ground so nothing gets damaged. Please leave the flags in place until work is finished.
What the machines are doing
Depending on the ground and what is in it, you may see a few different operations. A vibratory plow slices a narrow slot and feeds the cable or conduit directly into the ground as it moves; it looks dramatic but disturbs a surprisingly thin strip. A directional drill bores underneath driveways, roads and waterways, so those surfaces are never cut. An excavator or trencher handles spots that need open digging, and a vacuum excavation truck opens small, precise holes where an existing utility needs to be visually confirmed before we work near it.
Most of the time, the crew is in front of any one property for a day or less on the mainline,though the full project along a road can run for weeks as the route progresses.
What your property will look like after
Honest answer: for a short while, you will be able to tell we were there. Plowed ground shows a seam, and bore pits leave patches of disturbed soil. Then we restore it. Ground is leveled, ruts are repaired, and disturbed areas are reseeded where needed. Give the grass a season and most people cannot find where the line went in. Restoration is a listed service of ours, not an afterthought, and the feedback we value most from landowners is about how their place was left.
Common questions
Will you cut my driveway? No. Driveways and roads are bored underneath, not cut.
Did you hit my drain tile? Tile is a real consideration in farm country, and it is part of what locating and potholing are for. If damage ever does occur, tell the crew or the provider right away so it gets repaired.
Who do I call with concerns? Your internet provider is the best first call, since they own the project. If a Hidewood Fiber crew is on site, you are also welcome to speak with the foreman, or call us at 605-794-2540.
Hidewood Fiber, LLC is an underground fiber construction company from Toronto, South Dakota, building rural broadband networks across South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana for local internet providers.
