Answering the Call: Sertex Emergency Team Completes Critical ADSS Fiber Repair
When a communications fiber system serving electrical substations in upstate New York was damaged, Sertex mobilized a specially trained emergency response team and traveled eight hours to restore critical communications and minimize downtime for the utility.
Power Partner
Sertex specializes in fiber work for electric utilities and is one of a select group of companies certified to splice and test ADSS cable, optical ground wire, and Skywrap Fiber Cable systems. Our teams are safety-trained and certified to work in critical infrastructure, including substations and control houses.
Restoring Communications
On a Wednesday in July, Sertex was dispatched to an emergency repair involving damage to underground fiber cable that provided communications between substations.
Pat, an experienced telecom splicer who has been with Sertex for over 5 years, volunteered to lead the repair. He promptly reported to Sertex’s Plainfield, Connecticut, facility to meet with the other two emergency team members: a telecom lineman and a groundman. Before leaving for upstate New York, the team reviewed photos of the damage and carefully packed the equipment, safety gear, and supplies they might need.
“We made sure we overprepared and overpacked,” Pat said.
For Pat, emergency response comes with the job. This assignment, however, required some personal sacrifice. Before volunteering, Pat reached out to his wife for support, as they awaited the imminent arrival of their first child.
The team reached the substation on Wednesday evening and started work early Thursday. The damaged fiber ran through underground conduit beneath a highway overpass and connected to aerial cable on utility poles on either end. The crew worked outside the substation and alongside railroad tracks, where careful planning and strict attention to safety were essential.
As part of the repair, the Sertex crew consulted closely with the electric utility repair teams. Before work began, they completed required training in the utilities’ safety procedures. The team also had to retrieve replacement ADSS cable from a regional facility, further delaying the installation. Sertex eventually installed the ADSS fiber and prepared two new enclosures to splice and reconnect the cable on both ends of the repair.
By the end of Thursday, the team had completed the splicing and restored communications to the affected substations. The rapid repair helped the utility restore critical communications between substations while minimizing disruption to utility operations. Friday morning, they reinstalled the aerial cable and waited for systems testing before beginning the eight-hour drive home.
A Lasting Impression
A key member of the utility’s telecom team, a 30-year utility veteran who has overseen roughly 1,000 cable-cut repairs, took notice.
In an email to the Sertex team, he wrote, “I’ve never once seen a contractor so prepared to correct damage like this so quickly.” He praised the team for arriving with “all the safety gear, equipment and supplies necessary” and said their response “really reduced any downtime” for the affected services.
He summed up the experience simply: “So many times, we dwell on what goes wrong and never really say how much goes right. I think this repair really went right.”
The Sertex team's fast response, technical expertise, and dedication to safety left a lasting impression on the customer and demonstrated why utilities rely on Sertex as a trusted partner for critical fiber communications infrastructure.
