July 10, 2007 - CBC News

Trenching crews in Winnipeg are working to connect 50 civic buildings from the city's downtown to the southwest with a ribbon of fibre optic cable to keep the city connected during emergency situations.

The fibre optic lines are currently being laid inside a bright orange conduit in a trench 20 centimetres deep along Ellice Avenue.

In total, about 50 kilometres of cable will be threaded from City Hall to civic emergency offices near the Assiniboine Park Zoo, connecting every civic building along the way, from fire halls to libraries.

Jim Jackson, who oversees the project for the city, says it will help keep the city running during several types of emergencies, such as power outages, gas leaks or problems at rail yards near City Hall.

"In the event that we had to vacate City Hall, the critical communications networks around the city could still be maintained," he said, adding that such networks are vital, given the city's reliance on computers.

The technology, installed and maintained by Vancouver-based TeraSpan Network, will cost only $2 million to install - much less than traditional cable - because it isn't buried deep in the ground, Jackson said.

Although the shallow depth of the cables means they could break more easily, Jackson says the trade-off is they can be repaired in just a few hours.

Jackson hopes the project will be 90 per cent complete, with only connectivity to individual buildings remaining, by August.