The cable laying portion of the installation has its
unique challenges. Traditionally, cable is landed on
shore and laid across the ocean or body of water with
a landing on the other side. Protection in near shore
areas is effected by cable burial using burial plows
and/or fitting of articulated pipe in environmentally
sensitive or high abrasion areas. Cable protection is
primarily used to protect against fishing activity and
areas of abrasive geology, such as rocks, where
burial is not recommended or possible. Avoidance of
vessel anchorages is highly recommended. The
marine survey will determine the best route to take to
preserve cable system lifecycle.
Another cable laying challenge is routing of cable from
the seabed, up the side of the tower to the nacelle for
termination. Attachment of the cable to the tower and
nacelle must be carefully designed to support cable
weight and environmental forces acting upon it for the
system design life. Similar vertical routing is
performed in the submarine cable industry whereby
fiber optic cables are connected to oil platforms in a
similar manner. There are existing designs for hangoff
devices that support suspended cable so it may be
secured to the side of the structure.
Cable route engineering is required by the installer or
manufacturer to ensure that the proper amount of
cable is made to provide for sufficient length to make
all of the necessary course changes and provide for
any slack requirements such that cable protection can
be implemented where required. The cable
engineering length is what the manufacturer will build.
What you don’t want is to run short of cable and have
to make expensive splices, or have large amounts of
cable left over from the project.