Trench Warfare

At the Chilbolton site, digging has now started for the cable trenches on the HBA field. Unlike the LBA, the HBA (High-Band Array) is arranged in a regular grid pattern (as shown below - click to enlarge the diagram).



There are a total of 11 "columns" which have varying numbers of cable exit points where the HBA tiles will be connected. The main trench is dug by a mechanical digger. Feeder trenches then are cut into the main trench to give access to the cable exit points. Cables are then fed down into the trench from the surveyed marker pegs and bundled along the bottom of the
trench channels.

In the picture, a digger carefully backs across the site as it digs in another
HBA cable trench.