Business, Community, Dakota Dunes, Energy, Siouxland, Telecommunications

FiberComm boring machine severs electrical line; results in Dunes power outage Thursday

By Gary Dickson garydickson@siouxlandobserver.com

A FiberComm boring machine making holes to run plastic conduit underground accidentally cut MidAmerican Energy electric cable along Dakota Dunes Boulevard this morning leaving approximately 800 utility customers without power.

“Here’s the problem,” said MidAmerican Energy employee Phil McKee, showing the photographer the severed section of electrical conduit.

“It should take us about two hours to repair this,” said MidAmerican Energy worker Phil McKee who was working to find the damaged conduit along with two other workers. Once the damaged electrical cable was located, the crew used an excavator to carefully dig a trench to reach it several feet underground.

MidAmerican Energy work crew members ponder the next steps to repairing the electrical conduit that was severed by the FiberComm boring machine earlier in the day. Shown counter-clockwise from the bottom are, Hunter Deeds, Will Chytka and Phil McKee. The trio will be working about two more hours to do the repairs, said McKee.

FiberComm says it uses a boring machine to install its conduit because it minimizes the damage to property. The company states on its website that its construction crew will also lay large rubber mats under the boring machine to help prevent ruts in the grass and cracks in sidewalks and driveways. The mats help to distribute the weight of the machine evenly over a large area. 

A FiberComm worker directs a boring machine operator how far to extend the borer into the ground on the parkway of Dakota Dunes Boulevard Thursday morning. They were operating directly across the street from where the MidAmerican Energy crew was repairing the damage done to a severed electrical cable by a FiberComm boring machine crew earlier in the morning.

At the time the Siouxland Observer was taking photos of the MidAmerican Energy crew, a FiberComm boring machine crew was operating on the south side of Dakota Dunes Boulevard. A company employee said they would be boring and running conduit on Sioux Point Road later on Thursday.

There was no mention of a power outage from MidAmerican Energy on their webpage today.

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