Fiber Optic Strand Mapping Company for Existing Aerial Plant
Get a span-by-span record of existing strand, the plant it carries and observed condition concerns. Draftech fields the route and delivers a reviewed survey package for your overlash, telecom rebuild or acquisition decision.
Know what the existing strand actually carries
Draftech is a fiber optic strand mapping company for fiber ISPs, cable operators and carriers that need an independent field survey of existing aerial telecom plant. You receive a record of the strand route, visible cable and hardware, condition flags, clearance exceptions and photographs tied to the surveyed spans and structures. The same team that surveyed the strand explains each condition flag to your engineer or due-diligence reviewer. Draftech engineering is entirely in-house.
An old as-built can show strand continuing through a corridor without showing the cables added since it was drawn. A seller's records may omit deteriorated hardware or a clearance that has closed up. If those conditions surface during construction or after closing, the project faces a revised design, a new loading calculation or a purchase decision made on incomplete information.
Draftech fields the existing route before those commitments are finalized. For a new route ahead of design, see our field survey work; this survey is for plant already on the poles.
A survey matched to the decision ahead
Before an overlash design
Adding cable to an existing messenger starts with knowing what is already there. The field team delivering Draftech's aerial fiber survey services documents which spans carry strand, what visible plant rides it and where broken lashing wire or cable pulled away from the messenger needs engineering review. A cable bundle that differs from the supplied drawing belongs in the handoff before the proposed addition becomes a design assumption.
Your engineer receives locations and photographs of corroded or birdcaged strand, damaged strand clamps and excessive sag observed along the scoped route, together with clearance exceptions at the specified crossings. Those findings direct further investigation or analysis before your team commits to an overlash approach.
Before a telecom aerial rebuild
A rebuild scoped from aging drawings can miss where deterioration occurs along the route. Draftech documents the observed condition of the strand and the plant it carries, with leaning or damaged poles, slack or corroded down guys and anchors pulling out of grade tied to the affected structures and spans.
Your engineers can distinguish apparently intact sections from spans with unwrapped lashing wire, missing lashing clamps or enclosures and slack loops hanging off the strand. The condition summary locates each finding so engineering can evaluate the affected sections individually and develop the rebuild scope from the conditions actually observed.
Before a network acquisition or absorption
For a buyer evaluating an existing network, Draftech supplies an independent field read of the aerial plant within the agreed route limits. We compare observed conditions with the records supplied and identify differences in the strand route, carried plant and visible condition. The due-diligence file connects those findings to photographs and span references your technical team can review.
Your team brings that field evidence into its own acquisition review. Network valuation, appraisal and transaction advice remain outside the survey scope.
Before incorporating legacy plant into a funded build
BEAD subgrantees need to decide whether existing strand and the cable on it are in a condition to carry the funded build's new fiber or whether those spans must be replaced. We define the survey limits around the legacy sections being considered for reuse. The survey records the condition of those spans before the build plan counts them as reusable, giving engineers documented findings to evaluate for the reuse-or-replacement decision.
What your survey package includes
The reviewed package from Draftech's fiber plant condition assessment services centers on the strand and the plant riding it. We agree the route limits, condition observations, specified crossings and your engineers' or due-diligence team's requirements before field work begins.
- Span-by-span strand record: Which surveyed spans carry existing strand, how those spans follow the aerial route and where the observed route differs from supplied records.
- Visible cable and hardware record: Lashed cables, splice enclosures, slack storage and similar plant visibly carried on each strand.
- Condition findings: Observed conditions such as corroded or birdcaged strand, broken lashing wire, damaged or missing strand and lashing clamps, excessive sag, leaning or damaged poles, slack or corroded down guys and anchors pulling out of grade. Each finding stays associated with the affected span or structure.
- Clearance exceptions: Exceptions noted at the spans and crossings called out in the project scope, with enough location context to direct your engineers' review.
- Linked photo log: Photographs tied to each span and structure record, allowing reviewers to locate the evidence behind an observation without sorting through an unrelated image folder.
- Plant-condition summary: Findings organized for an engineering handoff or an acquisition due-diligence file, with differences from supplied records identified.
Field work and review from one fiber optic strand mapping company
Draftech starts with the route and the decision the survey must support. We review the available drawings, a previous owner's records and known concerns, then agree what the field team must observe and what your reviewers need to evaluate. Existing information provides comparison material while our people independently examine the scoped aerial route.
Structured digital capture ties observations to each span and structure record during field work. The strand, carried plant, condition findings and photographs remain connected throughout the survey.
QA review checks the records against the agreed requirements before handoff. We review coverage, the association between findings and photographs, and differences between field observations and supplied records. Unclear entries return for clarification. Unresolved items, including observations prevented by access or visibility, are flagged rather than assumed, with the affected location and missing information identified in the delivered package.
For an engineering handoff, the summary directs attention to affected spans and questions that need technical resolution. For acquisition due diligence, it organizes the observed condition and record discrepancies within the surveyed limits. Draftech retains responsibility for explaining its findings in either format.
Connect the survey to the next required service
An overlash decision may also need loading-grade pole information. In that case, pair this survey with pole data collection, the separately scoped package of pole, attachment and span measurements used by the loading engineer. Establishing both needs at intake keeps the condition survey and engineering inputs aligned.
Clearance concerns may require engineering review against applicable NESC clearance requirements and the pole owner's construction standards. The survey identifies the field exceptions for that review. Where the project proceeds to owner filings, pole attachment engineering handles the subsequent application or overlash notice scope.
For a network with both aerial and belowground sections, underground conduit, vault and duct survey covers the belowground assessment. When captured records need to become a maintained GIS asset, as-built and CAD-to-GIS conversion provides the next record-conversion scope.
Fiber Optic Strand Mapping Company for Existing Aerial Plant FAQ
Can the findings go directly to our acquisition review team?
Your acquisition reviewers can receive the scoped field records, photo log and condition summary directly as a standalone survey package. Commissioning design is not required. We establish what your due-diligence team needs to evaluate before collection so the package supports its purchase or network-absorption review.
Can you survey plant that has no usable records?
Yes. The field team records the strand route, the plant it carries and observed condition span by span as found, so the package stands on field observation alone. Where no records were supplied for a section, the summary says so rather than reporting a comparison.
Does the survey confirm that we can overlash another cable?
The survey establishes observed existing plant and condition findings for the engineering decision; it does not establish the messenger's remaining capacity or approve an overlash. Confirming the proposed addition requires the relevant engineering analysis and supporting data. We identify that separate need during scoping.
What happens if part of the route cannot be observed?
We flag the affected span or structure and describe the observation that remains unresolved rather than assuming the condition of plant we could not observe. The handoff preserves that limitation so your team can determine whether further access or verification is needed before making its decision.
Scope your existing aerial plant survey
Tell us whether the survey supports an overlash, a telecom rebuild, a network acquisition or legacy plant reuse. Identify the route limits and available plant records, along with known deterioration, access restrictions and the team reviewing the findings. Your reviewed package will contain the scoped strand and carried-plant records, condition findings, clearance exceptions, linked photographs and a summary organized for engineering or acquisition review.
Contact Draftech to scope an independent survey of your existing aerial strand and plant.