Overhead to Underground Conversion Engineering
Draftech engineers the conversion from existing overhead assets to an underground distribution system. Get one coordinated package for the route, equipment, telecom relocations, customer transitions and pole retirement.
Who orders conversion engineering and why
Draftech delivers overhead to underground conversion engineering for electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives. Our in-house team carries one controlled engineering package through pole retirement. The utility engineering or project lead gets a defined scope, an engineering cost estimate for the conversion, and a record of the decisions needed before construction commitments.
A planned conversion may begin with a pre-storm hardening policy, road or corridor reconstruction, capacity or clearance needs, aesthetics, or a coordinated public project. A developer or HOA may request underground service for an existing gated community. Each request needs an engineering scope that identifies which facilities change, who owns them and what must happen before the overhead system can be retired.
The work belongs within our electric utility engineering services, with a specific focus on converting an operating distribution segment and resolving the assets it leaves behind.
Redesign the system before committing to the trench
Treating conversion as trenching beneath an existing overhead design leaves critical decisions unresolved. Cable, equipment, switching and customer-service arrangements must suit the underground topology. Copying the overhead configuration can produce equipment that does not fit its site, cable routing that conflicts with the civil layout, or services that cannot transfer as expected.
Permits stall when the route and equipment footprint disagree. A customer whose service entrance or meter base must be modified for underground service learns at cutover that the modification, its electrical permit or its scheduling is their responsibility. A pole removal request can advance while the pole still carries a live telecom attachment or an unresolved ownership obligation.
Draftech carries those dependencies within the engineering scope. The package receives coordinated review before construction commitment. The project lead can distinguish an accepted design decision from an outstanding approval and see which part of the conversion depends on it.
What our overhead to underground conversion engineering package includes
The deliverables cover both the new underground facilities and the disposition of the existing overhead system. We define the package around the utility's conversion limits, operating requirements and required approvals.
- Conversion feasibility and scope definition. An asset map identifies each affected overhead asset and its final disposition: convert, transfer, retain, or abandon/remove. The scope includes an engineering cost estimate for the conversion, tied to the proposed work and its assumptions.
- Underground distribution design. Cable selection and routing, pad-mount transformer and switchgear placement, switching and sectionalizing points, and service layout address the converted segment. The design calls out riser poles and cable terminations where the converted segment meets the retained overhead line for owner acceptance.
- Coordinated civil design. Duct-bank, vault and pad-site designs support the distribution layout. The package brings route constraints, equipment footprints and access requirements into agreement.
- Telecom attacher relocation design. We design relocations for communications facilities on poles scheduled for retirement and coordinate with each affected attacher. The package ties relocation requirements to the conversion scope, making unresolved attacher decisions visible before pole removal is released.
- Customer service-transition records. Each affected customer has a documented service arrangement and meter or handoff location, with ownership, access and permit responsibility assigned.
- Cutover and switching sequence package. The package contains ordered switching steps, provisions for energizing the underground segment and transferring services, and phasing checks before customers are reconnected. It also documents planned customer outage windows and hold points before the overhead conductors are de-energized and removed.
- Pole-retirement and closeout record. The final record reconciles every dependent asset before a pole comes down and documents the resulting facilities. Where a retiring pole carries a street light, we record the attachment and hand it back to its owner.
Together, these deliverables let the buyer evaluate the whole conversion. A drawing set that omits customer responsibilities or attacher relocation leaves part of the project unscoped, even when the proposed underground route is clear.
In-house engineering with defined review responsibility
You can engage Draftech for engineering only. All engineering and design work stays in-house, giving your project lead one team responsible for maintaining agreement across the package as decisions change.
We run the engagement through gated reviews covering scope and ownership, distribution design, civil route, equipment and customer handoffs, cutover, and closeout. Each review gives the owner a defined decision to make and identifies what remains unresolved.
The value is especially clear when a proposed equipment location moves. That decision can affect the cable route, civil footprint, customer connection and permit package. Our engineers carry the revision through the affected documents and bring its consequences back to the utility for review. Your project lead receives a coordinated change instead of having to reconcile separate interpretations.
For the detailed planning framework behind these deliverables, read our conversion planning guide. The service engagement applies that coordination to your assets, ownership boundaries and required final condition.
Keep schedule and cost tied to the actual scope
Route length, attacher count, customer count, permits and available cutover windows drive the conversion's schedule and cost. A route with unresolved customer access or telecom transfers carries different dependencies from one whose ownership and handoffs are accepted.
Permitting also depends on a consistent design. Equipment sites and civil routing need to match the package submitted for review. Our permitting coordination connects those requirements to the engineering work, keeping outstanding agency decisions visible to the utility lead.
A community's preferred completion date is an input to that discussion, not a substitute for confirmed access, attacher coordination or an accepted cutover window.
Connect the conversion to adjacent work and construction
Conversion engineering includes the transition between retained overhead facilities and the new underground segment. Separate overhead distribution design supports overhead work beyond that conversion boundary, while underground distribution design covers new underground service where no overhead line is being converted.
Where the conversion triggers replacement of poles that remain in service, pole replacement engineering supports that related scope. The conversion package keeps those retained or replaced assets distinct from poles approved for retirement, preventing a removal list from becoming a blanket instruction for the corridor.
When the owner wants the conversion built, Draftech offers full turnkey construction for power distribution and make-ready through Draftech-managed crews under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program. Our electric construction management service connects the accepted engineering package to field delivery. That gives the owner a single point of accountability, with in-house engineers carrying design intent and accepted revisions into construction and closeout.
Overhead to Underground Conversion Engineering FAQ
Can our own contractor build from Draftech's conversion package?
Yes. The default engagement is engineering only, completed in-house and issued for the utility's chosen builder. If the owner wants full turnkey construction, Draftech offers it through Draftech-managed crews under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program as an option, not a requirement.
Can you scope a conversion requested by a developer or HOA?
Yes. We can define the engineering scope for a developer or HOA request in coordination with the utility or cooperative responsible for the distribution facilities. The package identifies affected assets, proposed service transitions and ownership responsibilities so the utility can evaluate what the request requires.
What information should we provide to start?
Provide the proposed conversion limits, the reason for the project, available asset maps and one-lines, utility design requirements, and known customer or attacher information. Include any corridor plans, access restrictions and target cutover windows already identified. We use that material to define the engineering scope and identify information that still needs verification.
How do you coordinate relocation with the telecom attachers on poles being retired?
Where an attacher moves underground with the electric facilities, its conduit needs are carried into the coordinated duct-bank design. Where it moves to a retained pole, the relocation design shows the new attachment on that pole. The retirement record tracks each attacher's acceptance pole by pole.
What determines the delivery schedule?
Draftech does not quote a timeline before the scope is defined. The conversion feasibility and scope deliverable sets the schedule against the scope drivers described above and identifies the approvals needed to advance.
Put your conversion scope in front of our engineers
Bring the existing asset information, proposed conversion boundary and desired final condition. Draftech will define the engineering engagement, delivered by our in-house team. Contact our engineering team to define your conversion package and delivery requirements.
info@draftech.com | 305-306-7407 | Miami Lakes, FL