atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Outside Plant OSP Construction Cut about 50+ underground main phone lines. Need HELP!!!

Long story short. I'm in some deep trouble. Was using a backhoe to soften up some dirt before I put topsoil on it and level it out then I went maybe about 2 feet deep at most and pulled out wire. It wasnt in conduit or anything. The wire had a whole bunch of electrical tape on it and had about 50 something wires. Later I found out it is the wire for the phone. So now what do I do? I callled up the phone people. (bellsouth) They said they will be here on monday september 10. Am I looking at a huge bill this month or something like 50-100 bucks for the repair? Also yes I am stupid and should be smacked upside my head. I think my neighbors might not have service either but I am too scared to call.


*EDIT*
Any help is greatly appreciated and if anyone in the panhandle of FL (Tallasshaee area) can help then it would be great. Kinda in a panic mode rite now. I looked online to see if there is any fix for this but none so far, so I just called up the phone guy.

if its 25 pair then chances are its more than your service . its telco property , you can't do a DIY fix

I would expect something a bit higher

next time call here first , cover your rear

Welcome to the board, your name may say it all. Hopefully they'll cut you some slack. "Call before digging" is a lesson learned the hard way. Good luck, hope it all turns out for the best, this isn't something you can fix yourself.

25 pair? Like 25 wires I assume? Also more than 100 then I need to start looking for a way of getting some money as to not piss of my parents.

Also thanks so much for the website man. I am gonna have that bookmarked for future reference.

Thanks for the welcome. Yes my name says it all unforutunatly. Yeah I hope they will cut me some slack as well. Yeah I had no clue abou t this call before digging but now I know so I am gonna live up to it and also try and help spread the word. I figured it wasnt something I could fix my self but oh well.

Anyways for anyone that cares. I might post pictures tommorow depending on if they have it fixed or not by tommorow evening around 7 P.M maybe.

Another thing as well, I dont think the wire got sliced but acutally from what I observed it was in the black insulation and there was wires just sticking out color coded and had about maybe an inch of bare wire, then I digged more (By shovel) to look for the other end and then I saw a something wrapped in electrical tape and a metal rod type of thing sticking out (I guess grounding?) then I dug farther out to see what this thing wrapped in electrical tape leads to and it looks like the same wire AWG wise. I think what happened was the wires just got streched out from the tape as its not really broken but then again I 'm just a complete fool after what happened today. Now I just gotta wait for my parents to find out.

*EDIT*

I looked up 25 pair and I think thats what I just cut. Dang.

No, 25 pair would be 50 wires.

Got ya. Also how easy is it for them to join the wires? I mean there are like 10 white, red, orange, blue,yellow ETC wires. So they just pick any white wire for example and then order it out?

So pair one is any white and blue and pair 2 is orange and white? It cant be that easy can it?

in telephone talk a pair is two wires , you mentioned 50 wires so that would be a 25 pair cable

always call the 800 number and then if you hit a cable in a spot that they didn't mark your home free as to liability

like Bill said lets hope they cut you some slack on repair costs

So if I call that 800 number and then I break the wire its free to me becuase they didnt mark it? (Breaking the wire where they didnt mark it) Got ya. Thanks. Also yeah lets hope they do cut me some slack. Anyone here have any kinda experience like this with Bellsouth?
Also that 25 pair you speak of how easy is it for them to fix it and did it knock the neighbors offline aswell? If it did knock down the neighbors about how many peoople am I looking at? In our community there is about 50 house maybe but on my street maybe 8-12 houses. I asked my neighbor accross the street and they said it good but I dont have the guts to go next door.

*EDIT* I wonder if the house insurance will cover this wire? Probably not huh.

I would say yes it knocked out the neighbors too. Not all that hard to fix, depending on the damage of course, they'll probably have to put in a piece of cable. I doubt house insurance will cover, would be more of a personal/business liability type insurance, kind'a like what we carry, but couldn't hurt to ask if the need arises.

So you say it not that hard to fix correct? There is not much damage done to the wires so I think I am good on that. Its just a matter of reconnecting the wires I suppose. Also why would they wanna charge me in upwards of 100 dollars if it aint that hard. I mean ripping people off is what business is but I dont think anything over 75 bucks is reasonable for just connecting the wires. That would be just plain bullsh** rite there. Oh well that life I assume. Hopefully they dont charge me up the but. If this is the case I'm gonna tell all my friends to switch to bellsouth. :lol:

So now as it stands how worried should I be? Also what is underneath all of that black electrical tape?