The Allinq High-rise Squad
8 December 2020
Recently, Allinq has gained a specialisation: high-rise buildings. Under the leadership of Theo Spoelstra, this department brings together all processes, knowledge, techniques and innovations related to the installation of fiber optics in high-rise buildings. From two to thirteen floors… Allinq finds its way up!
Team outside and team inside
Theo: “Within the Allinq high-rise branch, we actually have two specialised teams. The outside team does not struggle at all with lifting up fiber optics from a suspension bridge on the facade of a flat. They work with aerial platforms and can even abseil. The in-house team is very good at bringing in and connecting that prepared fiber optic and the contact with the customer.”
Different techniques
Due to the height, the construction method and the target group, high-rise buildings are literally a profession in itself within Allinq. Theo: “We have many different techniques that we can apply to high-rise buildings. We therefore start every project by determining the safest, most qualitative and profitable approach for the customer. In that order, because safety comes first”, he emphasizes. He continues: “Ideally, we work vertically; from the bottom to the top. But with existing buildings we sometimes cannot escape horizontal cabling across the gallery. That is a lot more difficult, because then every resident has to be at home and you have to remove the partitions between the balconies.” Horizontal, vertical, inside and outside; the team can literally go in any direction!
Because we are openminded towards modernisation and have the freedom to pioneer, there is room for innovations."
Theo Spoelstra
A breeding ground for innovations
The high-rise team appears to be a breeding ground for innovations. For example, the high-rise plug was developed in collaboration with Allinq Labs. The plug makes it possible to make a connection in two independent operations, so that only one access platform is needed. In the first operation, all fibers are prepared in protective tubes in all exterior facades. During the post-connection, the duct can be located in the facade at any time, pulled in and connected. A comparable innovation is the angled plug, with which the same process takes place horizontally; to be more specific via the side of the facade and intermediate walls between two houses. The also new Riser Outlette technology uses a thin cable with 12 fibers. Along the way, notches are made in the cable where the correct color fiber is pulled out and the cable then is covered again. Also interesting is Flashnet, where the often present old copper pipes from KPN are reused. The tubes contain seven small tubes to which six houses are connected. The seventh spare tube is now used by the high-rise team to bring in fiber optics. Theo: “Because we are openminded towards modernisation and have the freedom to pioneer, there is room for innovations. With these kinds of inventions, we make projects profitable; for us and for the customer; this is important.