Shell Island in Gwynedd will soon have access to some of the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds.

To bring ultrafast broadband to the area, Openreach engineers have run brand new fibre cables from the nearest exchange in Llanbedr nearly four kilometres away. Part of the work involved drilling and laying new underground ducts two metres beneath the tidal area of the peninsula, that runs between Shell Island and the mainland.

The work needed to coincide with low tide-times and required innovative drilling equipment that allowed Openreach engineers to work safely. To see Openreach engineers working to connect Shell Island please see here.

Suzanne Rutherford, chief engineer for Wales, Openreach, said: “Shell Island is a site of special scientific interest so, as you would expect, we’ve been working very closely with Natural Resources Wales in the planning for this work.

“In addition to Shell Island we’re also making full fibre broadband available  to a number of rural properties in the area along with the enterprise park at Llanbedr airfield.

“Having to build across a road that goes through a tidal plain does present some specific engineering and safety challenges, but we’ve been working closely with the Welsh Government and have come up with a plan that overcame these issues.”

Openreach engineers and partners had to wait until the tide had gone out before commencing work. Using an innovative trench digger, better known as a ‘ditch witch’, they then drilled horizontally across the tidal area until mother nature – and the tide – put a stop to work for another day. In total engineers needed to drill for 400m across the tidal area to complete the work.

Used to dig small trenches at rapid speed, the ‘ditch witch’ has become an effective item in the Openreach toolkit as the UK’s largest network builder continues to roll out its Ultrafast Full Fibre network across the country.

Welsh Government economy minister, Vaughan Gething, said: “I’m delighted to welcome this investment in fibre broadband for Shell Island. Ultrafast broadband is making a real difference to communities across Gwynedd and Wales.

“Having access to superfast and ultrafast broadband speeds is becoming increasingly important for businesses throughout Wales and that is why the Welsh Government is investing in providing the infrastructure capable of delivering them.

“As part of a package of measures, the Welsh Government is working with Openreach to connect 39,000 properties to fibre broadband. Our fibre rollout with Openreach and various other schemes bring better connectivity to some of the hardest to reach parts of Wales. Good quality digital connectivity underpins everything we do digitally and is the foundation to achieving our ambitious digital strategy for Wales.

“Broadband is a key utility, and we’ll continue to support all efforts to boost connections the length and breadth of Wales.”