by matthew houseman

Guest Writer

Last Friday morning at approximately 9:00 a.m., the Knollcrest East apartments experienced a total phone and ResNet outage, and power surges on the main campus caused clocks in classroom and administrative buildings to be off by several minutes. The cause of the outage was blamed on contractors working on the East Campus construction who inadvertently cut power and communication lines.

Part of the construction of the new Communication Arts and Sciences building involved the installation of an underground gas pipeline. During the installation of this pipeline, a machine used for underground boring struck a 12,000-volt power cable - one of two primary power loops that feed the main campus. The machine also struck the main fiber optic computer network cables that run to the east side of campus.

Both lines were part of a large conduit system that had been encased in concrete to provide more security against damage by new installations.

Calvin maintenance personnel responded quickly. Physical Plant employees began working on fixing and regulating the power, and the Telecommunications department began work on trying to restore phone and ResNet service back to the apartments.

HelpDesk employees originally told students that it could be days before their computer network connections were restored. However, by mid-afternoon on Friday, the connections had been restored.

The solution came in the form of a separate fiber optic network system feeding a power substation. Telecom employees ran an above ground fiber optic cable from the substation to the Omega Seminary apartment. From there, pre-installed cables throughout the Knollcrest East property allowed them to get phone system up and running by noon. Additional work was required to get ResNet service restored, but by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, student were happily browsing the Internet again.

The repair work has not yet been fully completed, however. New power and fiber optic cables will need to be installed to replace the damaged ones. With winter fast approaching, the repair work has been made a high-priority job. Both Telecom and Physical Plant are in the process of determining the best method for the repair of the conduit systems and the replacement of the damaged cables, and hope to have the work completed soon.