Port’s fiber optic line now 1,200 feet short of finish

Around 1,200 feet of hillside above the Port of Wilma is all that remains of the Port of Whitman County’s $14 million project to run a fiber optic network link through Whitman County.

Joe Poire, port executive director, reported to port commissioners at their regular meeting last Thursday, Sept. 20, that a line of fiber optic cable needs to be buried in ground overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just north of the Port of Wilma to finish installation of the cable.

Crews from contractor Henkels and McCoy laid fiber optic cable last month between Oakesdale and Tekoa to finish the bulk of the project.

Poire said the Wilma stretch has been held up by permits from the Corps. With archeological oversight from the Nez Perce tribe, that stretch should be buried in the ground early next month.

“We’ve been two years, eight months waiting to get permits from the corps,” said Poire. “Next time someone mentions shovel-ready, remember - that’s shovel ready.”

The project to link Spokane and Clarkston with a fiber optic connection was primarily funded through a $12 million federal stimulus grant awarded in 2010.

Along the way, the 170-mile broadband fiber optic line includes access points for high speed data transmissions in Rosalia, Oakesdale, Tekoa, Garfield, Palouse, Colton, Colfax, Pullman and Uniontown.

Still remaining will be installation and connection of three booster station “huts” in Oakesdale, Pullman and Clarkston. Commissioners also Thursday approved a contract with Twin City Electric of Clarkston to wire the huts with batteries and generators.

Initially, the fiber will be used to connect medical clinics and libraries to high-speed internet, increasing their ability to use and share online information.

The port will own the line when finished, and officials with the agency hope to lease access to the cable to private internet firms to bring high-speed service to private customers.

The port’s project is part of an overall $185 million project by utility consortium Northwest Open Access Network, or Noanet. Noanet’s project will install 800 miles of fiber optic network in unserved portions of rural Washington.