Areas · Loudoun County
Reels and spools in Dulles: the airport, Route 28 and the Wishing Star lines
DULLES, Va. — Dulles, ZIP 20189 around the airport and much of 20166, together with Aldie in 20105, covers the southern side of Loudoun's data-centre corridor, where new campuses and the Mars to Wishing Star and Morrisville to Wishing Star lines are being built. The desk collects reels from that work and delivers to the farms beyond it.
From the reel desk · Checked 9 November 2026
Schematic line map, not to survey: Dulles marked, with Route 28, Dulles Toll Road drawn heavier. The Potomac, the Anacostia, the District line and the Beltway are drawn for bearings.
Fact box: Dulles
- ZIPs
- 20166, 20189, 20105 (Aldie)
- Transmission
- Mars to Wishing Star (under construction); Morrisville to Wishing Star (filed February 2026)
- Nearby
- Washington Dulles International Airport; Brambleton; Arcola
- Main roads
- Route 28, US-50, Loudoun County Parkway, Route 606
South of the airport
Washington Dulles International Airport sits on the Loudoun–Fairfax line. The Dulles postal area runs around it, and south Loudoun beyond it, through Arcola and Brambleton toward Aldie, has filled with data centres, distribution buildings and neighbourhoods over the past decade. The land is flat, the power is close, and the roads (Route 28, US-50, Loudoun County Parkway) carry heavy trucks every day.
The Wishing Star lines
Loudoun’s transmission page describes two lines ending at the Wishing Star substation near Arcola. Mars to Wishing Star, in the Brambleton and Dulles area, was approved in April 2023 and is under construction. Morrisville to Wishing Star, filed in February 2026, would bring a 500 kV line from Fauquier County through Prince William, with 4.8 miles in Loudoun. The page also describes Evergreen Mills, a short double-circuit 230 kV line east of Arcola Boulevard approved in October 2025. Line and substation work uses conductor and cable on the largest reels.
Campus reels
New data-centre campuses along US-50 and Loudoun County Parkway leave the same reels as Ashburn’s: hundreds per building, from small building wire reels to 84 inch medium-voltage reels. Loudoun counts more than 10 million square feet permitted in 2025 alone. Most campuses run their own laydown yards, and a clear-out there is a sorted, scheduled job:
- Steel and returnable reels tagged for their makers.
- Single-brand nailed reels counted against the maker’s truckload.
- Everything else (mixed brands, plywood, damaged reels) to the desk.
Aldie and the farms
West of the campuses, Aldie and the country along US-50 are farms and horse properties, good homes for large reels. A 60 inch reel from a Dulles campus can go a few miles west and start a second life holding a hose.
Getting here
Route 28 runs north and south along the airport’s east side; US-50 runs east and west through south Loudoun; Loudoun County Parkway and Route 606 run north to Ashburn and Sterling.
Sending a request from Dulles
- Count and measure. Count the reels and measure the largest flange edge to edge across the face. A photo with the tape in it is better than a guess.
- Check the build. Nailed lumber, plywood sheet, steel or plastic. Look for a stencil or tag naming the maker and the reel number.
- Set aside steel and tagged returnables with their serial numbers. Those go back to the maker, not to the desk.
- Say where they stand: yard, dock, garage level, alley or curb, plus clearance, gate hours, badging or escort a driver needs.
- Say what loads them: forklift, pallet jack, loader, ramp, or only people. Reels over 42 inches weigh more than 100 lb empty.
- Say how often: one time, weekly, monthly or at each job close-out.
- Buying instead? Give the flange and height you want, how many, and how the reel gets from the truck to where it will sit.
- No form handy? Email info@dcwoodenspools.com with the same details and a few photos.
Reels you are likely to have
| Reel | Build | Flange | Traverse | Drum | Lb | Usually carries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-5 | Nailed wood | 23 | 17 | 12 | 34 | Copper building wire, grounding |
| A-10 | Nailed wood | 30 | 22 | 16 | 66 | Service drop, bare aluminium |
| N-24 | Nailed wood | 36 | 28 | 14 | 83 | Insulated and multiplex cable |
| A-29 | Nailed wood | 42 | 28 | 21 | 154 | Overhead conductor, feeders |
| A-38 | Nailed wood | 48 | 28 | 24 | 212 | Aluminium and ACSR, large feeders |
| A-62 | Nailed wood | 60 | 28 | 28 | 397 | Utility conductor |
| A-76 | Nailed wood | 66 | 28 | 30 | 473 | Heavy conductor |
| S-120 | Steel, returnable | 84 | 36 | 42 | 895 | Transmission and medium voltage |
Other makers' reels differ by an inch or two. All flange sizes · How to measure
Questions the desk gets
Does the desk take reels from transmission line work?
Wooden reels, yes. Steel conductor reels belong to their makers and go back to them.
Does the desk cover Aldie and Arcola?
Yes. Aldie (20105) and Arcola are on the desk's map.
Sources
Each opened and read on 9 November 2026.
- Loudoun County, Transmission Lines in Loudoun County: status of Aspen to Golden, Golden to Mars, BECO to Firehouse, Evergreen Mills, Global Plaza Extension, Mars to Wishing Star and the Potomac Edison Goose Creek rebuild
- Loudoun County, Data Centers: The Loudoun Story: counts as of 1 March 2026: about 233 data centre buildings, 56.5 million sq ft; over 10 million sq ft permitted in 2025; 35.7 million sq ft approved but not built; by-right development ended in 2025
- Sonoco, EcoReel Recycling Program: free pickup of truckloads of viable nailed wood and polyfiber reels; reels repaired and returned to wire and cable makers; reels-per-truckload table