Dufur School going big megabytes with new line

Dry Canyon Electric’s Chuck Rystedt watched as his son, Zack dug into a 24-foot pole with his spikes on Thursday morning on Highway 197 near 5-Mile Road.

Meanwhile, Zach Reid used a “lasher” to entwine two cables as they were finishing a fiber optic line that runs 15 miles from Dufur School to the Columbia Gorge ESD at the Columbia Gorge Community College Campus in The Dalles.  

Rystedt said he had been on the job since February, and he and his crew had pounded 242 poles in the last nine months. He said the fiber optic line that will keep kids popping on computers in Dufur has been in the works for several years, noting permits and Oregon Department of Transportation permissions were necessary. 

The new line is capable of speeds of 1000 megabytes per second, according to Pat Sublette, Columbia Gorge ESD Superintendent. The cost to build the fiber line was $439,401. And the monthly recurring cost is $1,395. “Building the fiber was nearly all paid for with federal (Erate) and state match funding,” she said.

Chuck Rystedt talks with farmer Doug Weimar near 5-Mile road while his son Zack is at the top of the pole in the foreground. Zach Reid is nearby, ready to start lashing some lines together - see video at top. The fiberoptic line runs 15 miles from Dufur School to the Columbia Gorge Education Service District located at Columbia Gorge Community College. Students at Dufur School could be into some zippy computer speed as early as next week if all goes well with completion of the 4-year project.

Further south, Dufur School Superintendent Jack Henderson said he was elated that the project was coming to a conclusion. Better yet, when students log on next week, they will be in for a speedy surprise. The school has been running a “hybrid” schedule this year, with half of the student population showing up every other day. On the days that students are home, they receive instruction via the internet.