Orange County, Florida

# Directional Drilling & Fiber Construction in Edgewood, FL

A bit over an hour southwest of New Smyrna Beach, on the south side of the Orlando core.

TLDR

Strilla Communications Company provides directional drilling and fiber construction in Edgewood. The city is essentially a narrow commercial corridor along South Orange Avenue between Orlando and the Conway lakes, where right of way is thin, driveway cuts are constant, and there is very little room to stage equipment off the traveled way.

## Ground conditions in Edgewood

The corridor sits on sandy soil that drills predictably, with groundwater rising toward the lakes at the edges of the city. Decades of commercial development along Orange Avenue mean bores frequently pass through fill, old base material and abandoned service laterals rather than clean native sand. Depth planning has to account for shallow drainage structures under a corridor that was paved and repaved many times.

## Permitting and right of way

Edgewood administers right of way permits within its limits, and because the city is only a few blocks wide, a short route can leave city jurisdiction and enter Orlando or unincorporated Orange County quickly. Orange Avenue carries high volume and closure conditions are restrictive. The rail corridor that runs through the city alongside Orange Avenue requires separate railroad and state coordination with lead times that are measured in weeks, not days.

## What the build environment looks like

Commercial frontage dominates, which means an almost unbroken line of driveway aprons, sign foundations, irrigation and parking lot drainage between the pavement and the buildings. The usable right of way behind the curb is narrow and already shared by power, communications and water. Small businesses depend on continuous access, so blocking an entrance for a shift has real consequences and gets escalated fast.

## What crews actually encounter in Edgewood

Bores here are planned around driveways rather than around obstacles in open ground, since the crossing conflicts are almost all associated with commercial access points. Shoulder work and night operations are common because daytime lane closures on Orange Avenue are hard to justify to the reviewing agency. Pothole counts per hundred feet run high relative to a residential street. Any route needing to reach the far side of the tracks must contend with the rail alignment, which is planned early or not at all.

## Services that matter most here

Precision directional drilling under driveway aprons and hardscape is the everyday work, paired with conduit installation in a corridor that has little spare room. Vault and handhole placement requires locations that will not sit in a driveway or a parking approach. Business service builds mean fiber pulling and splicing into existing commercial buildings is a frequent part of the scope.

## Corridors and crossings we plan around

- South Orange Avenue
- Holden Avenue
- Gatlin Avenue
- Hansel Avenue
- Lake Jessamine
- the SunRail commuter rail corridor

## Why is South Orange Avenue the center of every Edgewood project?

Edgewood is a small city wrapped around South Orange Avenue, and almost every route runs along that corridor or crosses it. The avenue carries heavy traffic between downtown Orlando and the southern suburbs, and businesses line both sides with driveways, sign bases and parking lot drainage.

With a narrow, shared strip behind the curb, bores are laid out around commercial access points. The aim is to keep every entrance open during business hours: drilling under aprons from one side, staging on side streets, and moving to night or early shifts when lane space is needed.

## How does the rail corridor affect Edgewood routes?

The rail corridor that carries SunRail runs north and south through Edgewood, roughly parallel to Orange Avenue. A route that has to reach neighborhoods on the other side of the tracks must cross it, and that takes corridor owner approval, railroad protective insurance and a flagger during the work.

Those approvals take far longer than a city permit, so a rail crossing is either designed in from the start or avoided by using an existing crossing point. Adding one late usually stalls the schedule.

## Where does Edgewood jurisdiction end?

Because the city is only a few blocks wide, routes leave it fast. Orlando lies to the north, Belle Isle to the southeast, and unincorporated Orange County pockets sit around the edges, with limits that do not follow a simple grid. Each segment is mapped against the boundary before permits are requested.

Before design, the agency that maintains the specific block of South Orange Avenue in the route is confirmed directly, since that agency sets the closure hours and restoration rules.

## Key takeaways

- Nearly every Edgewood route runs along or across South Orange Avenue, where business access has to stay open.
- A rail crossing near Edgewood takes far longer to approve than a city permit and belongs in the design from day one.
- Edgewood routes leave city limits within a few blocks, so permits often split among Edgewood, Orlando, Belle Isle and Orange County.
- Commercial frontage drives a high pothole count per block because each driveway can hide several service lines.

## Key terms

**Driveway apron**: The paved section linking a driveway or parking entrance to the street, usually crossing the sidewalk and curb. In commercial corridors like Edgewood, aprons sit close together and hide service lines, so bores pass beneath them instead of cutting concrete.

**Railroad protective insurance**: A liability policy that rail corridor owners typically require before allowing construction within or under their right of way. It is arranged with the crossing application and adds lead time to any rail crossing.

**Vacuum excavation potholing**: Digging a small test hole with pressurized water or air and a vacuum to expose a buried utility so its depth and position can be measured. It confirms locate marks before a bore passes nearby.

*Edgewood route planning factors*

| Factor | Typical impact | How it is handled |
| --- | --- | --- |
| South Orange Avenue traffic | Restricted lane closures | Night or early shifts, shoulder work |
| Commercial driveways | Access must stay open | Bores under aprons, side street staging |
| Rail corridor | Long approval lead time | Design in early or avoid |
| Narrow city limits | Several permitting agencies | Boundary mapping per segment |
| Old fill and laterals | Unknown buried obstructions | High pothole count |

*Utility locate color codes*

## What this means for your project

Edgewood jobs are short in distance but dense in coordination. The hidden costs are potholes, night shifts and multiple permits, not drilling footage. A bid that prices them up front gives a realistic number, and a schedule that starts rail and multi-agency approvals first gives a realistic date.

Business relations are part of risk control here. Notifying owners before work reaches their frontage, keeping entrances open and restoring aprons and sidewalks promptly prevents the complaints that lead to tighter permit conditions on the next phase.

## Related reading

- [Trenchless boring under hardscapeCrossing concrete and pavers without cuts.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling/trenchless-boring)
- [Tracer wire for locatable conduitMaking new plant easy to find later.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/conduit-installation/tracer-wire-installation)
- [Field safety practicesTraffic, excavation and utility safety on site.](https://strillacommunications.com/resources/safety-practices)
- [Belle Isle, southeast on the lakesPeninsula streets and high groundwater.](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/belle-isle)
- [Orlando, directly northDowntown duct bank and layered permitting.](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/orlando)

## Edgewood FAQs

**Can business entrances stay open during fiber work on South Orange Avenue?**: Yes, that is the normal plan. Bores pass under driveway aprons so the concrete stays intact, pits sit outside entrances, and staging uses side streets where possible. When lane space is needed, work moves to early morning or night within the permit hours. Owners hear about the work before it reaches their frontage so customers are not caught off guard.

**Does Edgewood have its own permitting?**: Yes. The City of Edgewood issues right of way permits for its streets. Because the city is narrow, routes often cross into Orlando, Belle Isle or unincorporated Orange County within a few blocks, and each of those segments needs its own approval. Confirming the boundary and the maintaining agency for each block comes before anything is submitted.

**What does it take to bore under the rail line near Edgewood?**: Approval from the rail corridor owner, which usually involves engineering review of the bore profile, railroad protective insurance, a minimum depth below the tracks and a flagger on site during the work. That review runs longer than a city permit. If the network design can use an existing crossing or skip a new one, the schedule benefits directly.

**Why are there so many potholes on an Edgewood bore?**: Commercial frontage crowds many utilities into a short distance: water services, sewer laterals, gas services, irrigation, power feeds to signs and abandoned laterals from earlier businesses. Each driveway apron can hide several. Potholing at every conflict confirms depth before the drill head reaches it, and in this corridor that means a high count per block.

**Is the soil a problem for drilling in Edgewood?**: The native sand drills predictably. The challenge is what sits above it: decades of fill, old base material and abandoned service lines left by repeated commercial redevelopment. Toward Lake Jessamine and the lakes on the city's edges, groundwater rises and the sand gets wetter, so fluid control matters more on those segments.

**What type of fiber work is common in Edgewood?**: Business service builds lead: short precision bores along Orange Avenue, conduit and handholes kept clear of driveways and parking approaches, and fiber pulled and spliced into existing commercial buildings. Residential streets off the corridor see distribution and service drop work. Restoring sidewalks and driveway aprons is part of nearly every job here.

## Services available in Edgewood

- [Directional DrillingTrenchless directional drilling for fiber and utility conduit across Volusia County and Central Florida, planned against verified locates and closed out with documented bore logs.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/directional-drilling)
- [Aerial Cable ConstructionPole line construction, strand placement, lashing, and aerial fiber installation with make-ready coordination and NESC clearance verification.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/aerial-cable-construction)
- [Fiber Splicing & InstallationFusion splicing, fiber placement, termination, and enclosure installation with bidirectional OTDR support and a recorded loss value for every fiber.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/fiber-splicing-installation)
- [Conduit InstallationHDPE duct, innerduct, and microduct placed by bore, trench, or plow, proofed with a mandrel, and made locatable with tracer wire and marker tape.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/conduit-installation)
- [System MaintenanceContract maintenance for aerial and underground plant: scheduled inspection cycles, optical testing, locating, and permanent repairs under one agreement.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/system-maintenance)
- [Emergency Service RestorationUnplanned repair work that puts a damaged fiber or conduit network back in service after a cut, a storm, or a failure, followed by permanent repair and a documented closeout.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/emergency-service-restoration)
- [Outside Plant ConstructionTurnkey OSP construction that carries a fiber build from permitting and boring through aerial, splicing, restoration, and a documented closeout.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/outside-plant-construction)
- [Supporting ServicesThe access points, the pole preparation and the paperwork that decide whether a finished route can actually be operated and maintained.](https://strillacommunications.com/services/supporting-services)

Orange County

## Other cities we cover in Orange County

- [Orlando](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/orlando)
- [Apopka](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/apopka)
- [Winter Garden](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/winter-garden)
- [Ocoee](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/ocoee)
- [Winter Park](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/winter-park)
- [Maitland](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/maitland)
- [Belle Isle](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/belle-isle)
- [Oakland](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/oakland)
- [Windermere](https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/windermere)

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Source: https://strillacommunications.com/cities-we-service/orange-county/edgewood