June 2026 Vol. 81 No. 6
Features
Inside Team Fishel's race to deliver fiber for a major data hub
(UI) — Before the first server powers on or the first cooling tower hums to life, a data center needs one thing more than anything else: fiber optic cable connectivity, supporting the systems that businesses and communities rely on every day. When work started on a major data hub in Frederick County, Md., that challenge fell to Team Fishel to deliver the final 14 miles of fiber needed to bring that infrastructure online.
On paper, the assignment looked manageable. In the field, it was anything but. The terrain, the timeline and the unforgiving ground conditions quickly turned the job into a test of patience, precision, persistence and proper equipment. What looked like a conventional job grew complicated almost immediately. Confined rights-of-way and strict traffic limits narrowed the job site to a sliver of shoulder along a busy two-lane highway. A long stretch of granite that stretched north toward the Maryland line added pressure the crews could not avoid. It set the tone for the entire project.
"This is a project that normally takes two to three years. We had 10 months," said Connor Bass, area manager for Team Fishel. With that compressed timeline, his team had no room for missteps and even less room for delay.
Most fiber builds allow for some flexibility. This one did not. The margin for error was razor thin. If the project slipped by more than 15 days, the financial penalties would wipe out a fifth of the contract's value. At 30 days late, the entire job would lose money.
"We had to get very granular in scheduling," Bass said. Four data centers were waiting on two fiber routes, and every day without connectivity meant millions of dollars in idle processing capacity.
Laying the groundwork
Planning began months before the first drill moved into position. Initial assessments anticipated varied soil conditions that would gradually improve along the northern route. However, that expectation quickly faded.
Crews encountered a continuous granite vein that shadowed nearly the entire route. Progress slowed to as little as 8 to 12 feet per day in many areas, made worse by the need to ream each bore multiple times to reach final diameters, compounding production delays.
"Some days you mark the rod in the morning and hope it has been moved by lunch," Bass said.
At that pace, the schedule was unsustainable. Team Fishel knew it needed a new approach to finish this project on time. The team doubled the drill count, deployed crews from across the country and rotated mechanics through night shifts to keep every drill rig ready. Even the tooling plan had to be rebuilt to handle nonstop granite. Those moves bought time, but the fundamental challenge remained: finding equipment capable of performing consistently and reliably in solid rock and within extremely limited job-site space.
Drill selection quickly became a defining factor. The job site pressed tight against Route 15, a narrow highway with constant commuter traffic. Larger rigs simply could not fit, and many rock-drilling systems lacked the durability to successfully push through the continuous rock conditions.
The team was tasked with finding a directional drill with two contradictory strengths: compact enough to operate within space-restricted rights-of-way, but powerful enough to pull heavy reamers through solid rock. The Ditch Witch AT32 directional drill checked both boxes.
"It was the only machine compact enough to navigate the tight job site and yet powerful enough to pull a 24-inch reamer through granite," Bass said.
The All-Terrain system was essential to maintaining progress, providing stable torque and control through challenging ground conditions. Conventional methods, including mud motors and air hammers, would have degraded rapidly under continuous rock loads. However, the AT32, with its direct mechanical drive, maintained steady power and minimized fluid reliance, which was a crucial advantage when pushing through tough ground conditions while operating on a tight timeline and compact job site.
By the time the ground revealed its true challenges, Team Fishel wasn't just using one AT32; it expanded its fleet of AT drills and upgraded tooling to accommodate heavy rock. Fishel worked closely with Ditch Witch's ACE team to pre-stock pumps, motors, swivels and wear components, ensuring swift replacements and zero downtime.
Partner in the trenches
Equipment alone wasn't enough to maintain the pace needed to ensure the project stayed on schedule. Support from the nearby Ditch Witch ACE dealership quickly became a daily lifeline.
ACE stationed a technician onsite almost every day to handle troubleshooting, monitor performance alerts through the Orange Intel telematics system, fine-tune mud mixes and coordinate replacement parts. This proactive support prevented minor issues from escalating into days of downtime.
"Most issues were fixed before management ever heard about them. That level of field communication is rare," Bass said.
To keep production steady, Ditch Witch stocked more than $1 million in critical parts specifically for this project. In several cases, Ditch Witch and Team Fishel worked together to adapt components for extreme wear conditions.
"When something broke, the Ditch Witch team knew it needed to be there immediately," Bass said. "They did not ask what week it could be fixed; they asked where they needed to be in the next hour."
With more than 25 drills operating, that level of responsiveness and repair speed made a measurable difference in productivity goals.
Route 15 presented Team Fishel with one of its most complex operating environments yet. The corridor serves as a key connection point between Virginia and Maryland, carrying significant daily traffic. Lane closures were not an option, as all work had to be completed from the shoulder within a narrow, active right-of-way.
Crews operated in tight, uneven conditions with limited space for equipment. At peak activity, 160 Team Fishel teammates from 15 states operated along the corridor, supported by more than 80 trucks moving through the site each day. Managing that level of activity in a confined, high-traffic environment required precise coordination, careful planning and constant communication.
"Route 15 is an extremely difficult place to work, and the margin for error is zero," Bass said.
Maintaining safe traffic flow while advancing the project added another layer of complexity. With more than 25 rigs operating simultaneously, maintenance and logistics required disciplined scheduling and execution. Every aspect of the operation had to be tightly coordinated to keep crews productive and the project on track.
Rhythm in the rock
For weeks, the rock set the pace. Then momentum began to build. Additional drills, upgraded tooling and consistent on-site support provided the boost the team needed to move forward.
Crews who once spent days watching rods move inches at a time found a new rhythm. They learned the patterns in the rock and the spots that slowed production. Reamer swaps became smoother. A bore completed ahead of schedule. Service cycles stayed on time. The work was still demanding, but the teams no longer felt anchored by the weight of the rock beneath them.
Each incremental win built on the last, turning steady effort into measurable progress. The granite no longer set the tempo; the team did. Through the fall, momentum built week by week. Each completed section stretched farther, driven by precision, powerful equipment and unwavering dealer support. On Oct. 31, the final segment was set. Fourteen miles of duct bank were finished.
A project that typically spans several years had been completed in just eight months, the result of a team that trusted the process and equipment that held up when it mattered most. Inch by inch. Foot by foot.
"I couldn't be prouder of our team," Bass said. "Dr. Joe C., the field PM, and his team put in the work, trusted the plan and kept pushing. All the credit goes to them. The partnership with Ditch Witch and the reliability of those drills made a huge difference. The equipment held up, the support never stopped, and our crews delivered."
The work that made the data center possible happened far from the building itself. It came from crews who showed up each day to drill through rock that moved only a few feet at a time. It took bores, mud systems, rock cutters, long days spent off-road drilling on narrow shoulders and nerve-racking timelines. That is what powers the cloud.
"People see a data center and think that is the job. They do not see the miles of hidden infrastructure that make it possible," Bass said.
For Team Fishel, the project reflected the type of work the crews are known for taking on. It required patience, coordination and confidence in the tools they trusted.
"Anyone can build fiber in clean dirt. We take the work others often walk away from," Bass added.
Every day, thousands of cars travel along Route 15, unaware of the effort carved into the ground beneath them. The crew remembers every challenge, every inch earned. The equipment proved its worth. And now, the fiber they laid silently powers the world moving above it.
For more information
Team Fishel
(800) 347-4351
teamfishel.com
Ditch Witch
ditchwitch.com
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