The project allows greater bandwidth availability for higher speed Internet services for both residential and business customers, including government services and medical applications. Residents of Muncho Lake and Toad River have moved from satellite communications to a land-based fibre link. They no longer experience a satellite delay when speaking on the telephone and it is much easier to complete credit card validations, make conference calls and obtain High Speed Internet.

 

 

This $14-million project began in 2006 with preliminary design, followed by collection of mapping data, soil sampling, consultation with governments, engineering, design and construction. Construction began in the summer of 2008, with the original completion date set for October 2009. Northwestel accelerated work to meet a new completion date of August 31, 2009. In the end, work was completed five weeks ahead of schedule in late July 2009.

 

In addition, similar work was carried out during the previous six years in other parts of the route to the south, to construct a complete fibre link between the Yukon and southern Canada. The entire six years of infrastructure construction cost a total of $40 million.

 

 What roles did other organizations, businesses and governments play in this project?

 

Yukon Engineering Services, a Whitehorse company was sub-contracted to provide engineering, mapping and geotechnical work. Rohl Enterprises of Winnipeg carried out the construction work, including plowing, trenching, installation (of poles, conduit and fibre) and fibre splicing. The Government of Yukon provided a financial contribution of $174,900.00 for a feasibility study. The planning process also included consultation with the federal department of Public Works and Government Services, the British Columbia government, BC Parks and the Board of the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area.

 

 

Both. Fibre was buried wherever possible, because burial is the most secure, lowest cost and most aesthetically pleasing option. It was buried in road rights-of-way, ditches, under creeks and wetlands, and in a few cases, where the terrain required it, beneath the road itself. Where it was not possible to drill, plow or trench, aerial lines were installed instead.

 

 

The Mould Creek to Fort Nelson portion of the Alaska Highway is the most rugged area of the entire route to the south. The main challenges were the difficult terrain and inclement weather, which were met through the use of large powerful equipment and long working days. In terms of geography, the route passes through three British Columbia Parks (Liard River, Muncho Lake and Stone Mountain), but the construction could not impinge on any park lands. The route crossed 300 fish-bearing streams and construction methods had to ensure that the clarity of the water would not be disturbed. The rocky terrain often required the use of a large jack hammer mounted on a backhoe and a huge rock saw (20 feet in diameter) to cut through rock.