TiniFiber announced that its TiniFiber Micro Armor Fiber Optic Cabling Solution was the fiber optic cable of choice for LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall DAS/Wireless application. The product was applied in the 850,000 square foot Headhouse project, one of several projects at the airport utilizing the solution. It was selected by HOK (St. Louis, MO), a global design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm. Serving as the electrical contractor on the project was Kleinberg Electric (Brooklyn, NY), recognized for its role in serving many New York public agencies and contractors, and for its work on infrastructure and heavy construction projects. The product’s small size and lightweight, along with other key features were all factors in the specification of the TiniFiber Micro Armor Fiber Optic Cabling Solution.

As with all DAS/wireless applications, there are always complexities and challenges involved which must be addressed. While in the past, Aluminum Interlocking Armor (AIA) was typically used, TiniFiber is now being recognized for its value proposition over AIA by eliminating the high costs associated with deploying multiple cables within building wireless systems. This was accomplished by utilizing a hybrid cable solution which consists of TiniFiber and power cables under a single jacket solution while maintaining the small TiniFiber form. Namely, at 65 percent smaller and 75 percent lighter than AIA, TiniFiber is much easier and faster to install, thereby significantly reducing labor costs. Its size and weight also contribute to much lower shipping and warehousing costs.

Other TiniFiber features that weighed in its specification for the LaGuardia Airport Terminal B headhouse project was its flexibility, durability and adaptability. With its tightly-wrapped stainless steel coil, combined with Kevlar, the product has unrivaled strength and resilience. Further, the coil protects the fragile fiber glass, while providing a maximum bend radius, delivering a crush-proof and vermin-resistant solution that can withstand the harshest environmental conditions. The product’s sustainability was also especially important in the Headhouse project, which had as a goal “building with the environment and community in mind,” and was already recognized by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) with Envision Platinum Certification; ISI’s highest level of recognition for accessing sustainability and resilience in infrastructure.

In total, over 75,000 feet of TiniFiber cable in five different types were used in the Headhouse’s DAS/wireless application.

The LaGuardia Airport Terminal B Headhouse project began in 2016 as a multi-phase effort led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the State of New York. The new Headhouse resides on the site of the old West Parking Garage, which was replaced with a seven-story, 3,100 space Terminal B Parking Garage, which opened in February 2018. The Headhouse project was recently finished.