How do they repair undersea telephone cables?
In: Technology
Exactly like you’d imagine.
Unbury it, cut out the problem, splice in a replacement, rebury it.
Ideally as much of that happens underwater via Remote Control Vehicles as possible.
And how do they even know where to look for the problem?
Submersibles with a fun little grabby claw. Pulls the cable up into the sub through the floor of the vehicle where it can be worked on.
Maybe there’s new tech nowadays, but that’s how I remember it from 5-6 years ago
It depends on a lot of different things you probably didn’t know about undersea cables.
* Cables don’t typically break “in the middle of the ocean”–not much happens out there. Usually breaks happen where the activity is, which is the shallower water where boats frequent. In this case, it’s relatively easy to either dive or crane up the cable and splice it.
* Cables are continuously tested as they’re laid, so if there is a problem with the cable already, you “simply” reel some of it back on the ship and fix it there.
* In the shallows, cables are much, much more protected, with armor, burial, or even encasement. So while issues are more common here, they aren’t proportionally so.
* The vast majority of cables have redundant or extra capacity when they’re laid. This can be used if there is a problem, or as demand increases. However, generally, technology and new cables mean that most cables are retired for cost reasons long before they are retired due to damage.
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