The City of Arvada is developing two new communications sites in support of the city’s first responder P25 land mobile radio (LMR) system to service City of Arvada Public Safety and Public Works and Arvada Fire. The new system will expand radio coverage in the west and increase interoperability with the City of Lakewood and Denver.
During the early stages of the planning phase the city identified an interference issue which was determined to be passive reflection of Arvada’s own radio signals caused by buildings and bi-directional amplifiers (BDA) installed throughout downtown Denver. The interference was only occurring at certain locations in the City of Arvada.
After identifying the interference and its cause the city developed a mitigation strategy, which consisted of building the large tower (180’ monopole) at the Arvada water tank site in the Candelas area on the west side of town and building a small tower (60’ monopole) at the City of Arvada Wastewater Facility located east of downtown Arvada. The small tower will be low enough to not be visible to Denver, therefore the radio signals could not be reflected back. The tower will be high enough to be seen by the sites that have the known interference.
Improved Radio Coverage for Citizens
Black & Veatch was selected by the City of Arvada to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the project.
Project design, provided by local Denver staff, will include engineering support to include site design, fault calculations, diagramming, equipment selection, cable route and shelter layout, and permitting. Construction will include procurement, installation, assembly and system testing. All zoning, permitting and environmental and regulatory work was completed to support the site acquisition process. The majority of construction will be performed by in-house crews based out of the local Denver office.
"The City of Arvada selected Black & Veatch for their proven expertise and overall value they will bring to this project. Their professionals outlined the processes and best options for our needs and explained requirements that would benefit our citizens."
The project is on track to be delivered on-time and on-budget. With final completed site development and system deployment, this project achieves a much-needed coverage expansion and elimination of the problematic interference; ultimately becoming a success for all stakeholders.
