Utility Telecommunications Standards
Iowa State University
A. Outside Plant
1. Identify and locate, on the building plans, the communication manhole
serving each building.
a. Provide new manhole if the existing manhole is not available within
400 ft. of the building entry point. Consult Project Manager for
information.
b. Distance between manholes shall not exceed 600 ft.
2. Manhole
a. Provide and install 6 ft. W X 12 ft. L X 7 ft. D or 4 ft. W X 6 ft. L X 7
ft. D manholes as required.
b. Prefabricated manholes with H20 wheel-loading shall be used
whenever possible.
c. Manholes shall be equipped with cable racks, pulling irons, 3" sump
hole, frame, cover and 5/8 in. by 10 ft. grounding rod. No ladder
shall be provided.
d. The frame shall be Neenah Foundry R1740-B, no substitutions
permitted.
3. Conduit Installation
a. Install a minimum of three (3) – 4 in. diameter polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) schedule 40 conduits from existing and/or new manhole to
the building MDF. The total number of conduits required shall be
determined by the Project Manager.
b. Install a minimum of four (4) – four inch diameter polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) schedule 40 conduits and one each 4 cell 1.25 in. conduit
from between new and existing manholes if additional manholes
are required. The total number of conduits required shall be
determined by the Project Manager.
c. The total number of bends in a conduit run shall not exceed two 90º
bends or equivalent in sweeps and radius bends. Each bend will
have minimum radius accordance with existing standards (10 times
the conduit I.D. minimum for the bend radius).
d. The top row of conduits shall be installed at a minimum depth of 24
in. below finished grade.
e. Conduits shall be encased with sand to a distance of 6 in. away
from the conduits. Backfill above shall be clean excavated soil.
f. An orange warning tape (minimum 6 in. width) shall be placed in
conduit trench approximately 12 in. below the surface. The tape
shall display words identifying the buried utility (e.g., “FIBER OPTIC
CABLES BURIED BELOW”).
g. Conduits terminating inside a building shall be installed so that the
conduit extends a minimum of 4 in. beyond the surface through
which it penetrates.
h. Conduits shall be plugged with inserts to ensure that foreign matter
does not enter the building. Consult University Project Manager for
specific product requirements.
i. All conduits shall be installed with a minimum 1000 lb. test, non-
corrosive graduated pull tape.
j. Inner-ducts shall be installed to allow fiber optic cables to share
conduits with copper cables. Innerduct shall be polyethylene or
fabric style Maxcell products. All innerducts shall have pull tapes
installed.
B. Service Entrance
1. Service Entrance Cable (Fiber, Copper and Coaxial)
a. Project Manager will determine the connection point of the cables
to the existing university system. If the building project is to provide
for the underground cable plant the Project Manager will provide a
current copy of the University’s standard specifications for the
engineers use detailing all the fiber, copper and coaxial cable
requirements including cable, details, splicing, terminations and
testing requirements.
b. All metal-sheathed cable shall be properly grounded and protected
upon entering building. See section “H” for more detail.
2. Galvanized steel conduits (direct buried) or reinforced concrete encased
schedule 40 PVC conduits shall be installed from the inside of the building
to three ft. minimum past excavation line of the building. Direct buried
schedule 40 PVC shall be installed from three ft. past excavation line of
the building out to the manhole. Conduits shall not be routed under
building foundations.
3. Termination Space
a. Terminating space for the service entrance shall be in a Main
Distribution Facility (MDF). See Section “D” for closet design.
4. Pair protection shall be provided at the Node Room for all cables and at
the building MDF only if the copper cable entering the building is direct
buried or leaves the main campus area. Consult with the Project Manager
to determine if the cable requires protection at the MDF.
5. All outside plant copper cable shall be the ANMW style in 24 awg. Size of
cable shall be based upon one pair for each required outlet, plus 50
percent future growth and then sized to the next larger common size.
6. All outside plant fiber will be furnished by the University and installed by
the contractor. Fiber counts to the building will be either 12MM/12SM or
12MM/24SM dependent upon building size and needs. Number of fibers to
be provided and terminated to be determined during the Design
Development phase.
7. Coax cable will be installed by the Universities Cable Television service
provider. Project shall provide raceway system from CATV provider point
of service or telecommunications manhole. Consult with the Project
Manager to determine connection location.
