29/04/2026
⚙ Bringing high-speed fibre optic network infrastructure to Dent Island
As part of building the championship golf course on Dent Island, a services pipeline had to span Dent Passage. The pipeline was engineered, bundled on concrete cradles, and staged along the active Hamilton Island airstrip.
Initially, a microwave link from Qualia to the Dent Island landfall was planned to carry the technology needs of the island. Three months before deployment, the decision was taken to include fibre with the other services in the pipeline and the project landed on my desk.
I designed two 24-core submarine fibre cables into the bundle — submarine-rated cable, pressure ratings at depth, duct protection. With lots of collaboration and teamwork across the Services dept, the Powerhouse dept and others, retrofitting and integration of the fibre ducting into a pipeline was achieved.
You can see the fibre optic pipe running down the centre of the bundle, in blue.
Sunset staging the evening before. First light next morning, the pipeline was hooked up — tugboat at one end, excavator at the other to stop it from running away as it entered the passage off the runway.
All of us were manning the dollies, one at every concrete weight, carefully keeping the pipe straight as it was inched into the water.
The tide had to be still, the weather had to hold, all the engineering had to work. Only one chance at the pull.
The bundle crossed Dent Passage. The pipeline was kept afloat by the air in the pipes. When it reached the planned position spanning the passage, the seals were blown. The pipes filled with water and the pipeline sank to the bottom.
Once all was stabilised, my team continued the fibre from landfall on Dent Island to the W5-rated disaster recovery and backup bunker I had included in the build design. The bunker housed the microwave backup equipment and dish, and the Citrix server replication farm establishing the much-needed Hamilton Island offsite high-speed backup path.
This is one of the many projects I am so grateful to have been part of. The skills I gained, the wonderful teamwork, the common goals — a truly amazing experience and project.
petemorgantechnology.com.au