550 m Underground Pull: Tension, Cold, and a Visible Defect Next Door

Reject it as written. The single biggest problem is using a truck with no tension feedback: you cannot know when you are overstressing the cable, and a truck can generate far more force than the cable is rated for. A typical 24-count loose-tube cable has a maximum installation tension around 2,700 N (600 lbf), but the governing number is the manufacturer's datasheet, and that number must be enforced with a dynamometer and a breakaway link at the pull end. The sling with two half-hitches point-loads and crushes the jacket; use a proper pulling eye or grip that also seals the end. Bend radius under tension is commonly 20x outside diameter, so for a cable near 12 to 13 mm OD the minimum is roughly 240 to 260 mm at every sheave, handhole, and the 4 in. sleeve. Pull speed should be steady and slow, on the order of 30 m/min, not whatever the truck does at idle. The soap-based lubricant is generally acceptable for HDPE, but verify compatibility with the jacket compound and pre-lubricate the duct. Cold matters: at 2 C with the cable stored outside, handling is stiffer and less forgiving, so condition the cable and avoid impact and tight bends.

Treat each observation separately and reject on evidence, not on appearance. The hard-tightened stainless tie wraps are a clear nonconformance: they point-load the jacket, and with thermal cycling they can crush or abrade it. Require correct hardware or lashing with controlled tension. The 150 mm slack loop is marginal at best: long-term bend radius is commonly 10x OD, which for a 12-count cable near 12 mm OD is about 120 mm, so 150 mm may sit inside the manufacturer's installed limit but leaves no margin at a handhole where future re-entry will bend it again. Require re-forming into proper slack storage with a rack or spiral and a documented radius. The abrasion marks at the rock crossing are the one item that cannot be resolved by re-dressing: jacket damage can compromise the water-blocking and the strength members, and may not show as loss today. Expose the section, inspect the jacket depth, and if the jacket wall is compromised, cut out and splice in a closure or replace the section. Prove the result with bidirectional OTDR at 1310 and 1550 nm and a visual record. Do not let the new pull repeat any of these.

I would not refuse the schedule outright, but I would refuse the method and set conditions that make today possible. First, get the cable off the cold trailer and into conditioned space for a minimum conditioning period, or accept that the pull will be slower and gentler; do not flex a cold cable aggressively. Second, switch from a truck to a controlled pull with a winch or capstan, a dynamometer, and a breakaway set to the datasheet limit, with a mid-route assist at the handhole to reduce tension and sidewall pressure at the two 90s. Third, pre-lubricate, use a proper pulling eye, and station people at each handhole with radios. Fourth, if per-strand lengths allow, a mid-route pull from a handhole may be faster and safer than a single 550 m shot, with a splice later in a closure, so present that as a schedule-saving alternative rather than a compromise. Tell the GC plainly: today is achievable with these controls, but a cable pulled by truck with a sling will likely pass a loss test now and fail in a few years, and the replacement cost is far greater than one day of schedule.