Submarine Cable Installation in the Potomac River

Project Overview:
CMI was contacted by Prysmian Cable in the beginning of 2019 to install a replacement cable across the Potomac River in front of the Jefferson Memorial. The project was complicated by large cable reels and low railroad bridges. To overcome this a sectional cable lay barge was mobilized with moon pools to allow the reels to be recessed into the deck to achieve clearance under the bridges of the Potomac. The barge was fitted with winches, survey suite, cable handling equipment, and an overboard chute for the cable lay. During the summer of 2019, the sectional barge was mobilized at a facility in Baltimore and towed to the Port of Baltimore to pick up the cable reels. The reels and flexi-float barge will then be towed from Baltimore to Washington DC. CMI installed two circuits approximately 3000 ft each of submarine cable across the Potomac River into previously installed conduits and BHM. The cables were laid via anchor across the Potomac. This submarine cable installation project was completed on time and within budget.