Resources: Success Stories: Lenowisco Water/Fiber Project

The Lenowisco Planning District in southwest Virginia (encompassing Lee, Wise, Scott counties, and the city of Norton) is getting national attention for the innovative duct and fiber backbone it is installing as part of a water system upgrade.

When a major water line connecting the communities of Big Stone Gap and Duffield was funded, Skip Skinner, president of Lenowisco, saw the opportunity to place telecom duct alongside the water line. Lenowisco has set a goal of getting high-capacity broadband to every home and business in the next 10 years, and this project fit well with that goal.

After some research, Lenowisco decided to use a micro-duct product from the Emtelle Company. The Emtelle fibreflow® duct is about an inch and a quarter in diameter, but has 24 small tubes inside. Each tube can carry a bundle of four, eight, or 12 fibers. The duct is easy to install using conventional techniques, but the real advantage to Lenowisco was the ability to blow fiber into the individual small tubes on an as-needed basis as customers for fiber connections signed up for the service.

After the water project was completed, Lenowisco began placing the conduit in the downtown area of Big Stone Gap. Initial duct routes were determined by identifying key businesses and government agencies that were most likely to be early and eager customers. Lenowisco is leasing fiber to private service providers, including the local telephone company.