, 
, 
, 
, 
Crews working on the $14 million broadband Internet service project in Rock County are about 10 percent finished after two months on the job.
Boring of the main fiber line began April 11 in Jasper. Since then crews have finished Beaver Creek and have moved on to Hardwick.
The work slowed almost immediately when $30,000 in boring equipment was stolen while crews set up in the Jasper area.
The first crew is responsible for boring the orange plastic tubing into the ground. The plastic tubing is used in municipalities to protect the fiber optic cable pulled through the tube by a second crew.
While work in the cities has progressed with the boring of the tubing, the frequent rain showers and the rock formations located in northeast Rock County have slowed the burying of the fiber.
Currently there are three crews working on the project who have completed about 50 miles of the 554-miles of fiber necessary to complete the project.
“The exposed rock areas that the crews have crossed have been very tough on equipment and on the progress of the job, but they have been able to overcome all those obstacles,” said Andy Hulcher with Alliance Communications Cooperative.
Alliance, located in Garretson, South Dakota, is the lead partner in the Rock County Broadband Alliance to bring fiber-to-the-premise and high-speed Internet service to all Rock County residents.
Another project delay has been the average of 10 days of rain experienced in the area the past two months.
“The plow crews will catch up fast and make up valuable time as things dry out from the recent rains,” Hulcher said. “They are plowing between four and five miles a day in good soil so I am confident they are going to be ahead of schedule in a very short period of time.”
Crews have also progressed to the rural areas between Jasper and Beaver Creek.
Hulcher said progress is faster in the rural areas because very little protective tubing is necessary. Progress will also increase once crews make their way out of the rock formation areas of the county.
The bulk of the cable is expected to be buried by this fall with all installations completed by June 2017.