June 14, 2002 -- Digital Teleport Inc. (www.digitalteleport.com), a fiber-optics communications carrier in secondary and tertiary markets in the Midwest, has completed work to restore full network redundancy after the collapse of the Interstate 40 bridge over the Arkansas River.
The bridge collapse on May 26 severed a Digital Teleport fiber-optic cable that carried voice and data traffic for a number of major telecommunications providers. Digital Teleport's "self-healing" ring network design instantly re-routed the traffic around the break, preventing any interruption in service.
"Our network ring protection worked flawlessly, and none of our customers suffered any loss of service," said Steve Hendrix, senior vice president of network operations for Digital Teleport. "But the cut left a portion of our network exposed if a second catastrophic event would have occurred."
Digital Teleport installed 2.5 miles of temporary fiber to reach another river-crossing point upstream from the collapsed bridge.
"Given the severity of this catastrophe and the importance of this fiber route, I'm very proud of our team's effort and responsiveness," Hendrix said. "We had to identify an alternate river crossing, create new engineering plans, obtain the necessary permits, and complete the reconstruction, which included boring through some difficult terrain, all within the shortest possible time period."
Permanent network restoration may take several months after the bridge is reopened. Digital Teleport is currently exploring the possibility of boring under the Arkansas River to permanently restore its fiber optic cable.