Storm Hardening Construction Services
Strengthen distribution circuits with pole upgrades, guying, reconductoring, and selective undergrounding. Draftech delivers in-house engineering and full turnkey construction through a single point of accountability.
Put your hardening plan into construction
Draftech delivers storm hardening construction services for electric cooperatives and municipal utilities preparing distribution systems for hurricane, ice, and wildfire exposure. We turn circuit priorities into engineered work packages, coordinate permits and joint-use requirements, and build the approved improvements with Draftech-managed crews under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program.
Your utility gets a single point of accountability from field assessment through construction closeout. Engineering is 100% in-house, so the team that specifies a pole replacement or underground conversion remains available when field conditions require a design decision. This work sits within our utility construction services, with engineering and construction planned together.
Bring us a defined hardening program or a group of circuits that needs evaluation. We establish the work boundaries, identify missing field information, and organize the improvements around your utility's operating requirements, access constraints, and construction priorities.
Keep engineering, permits, and crews on the same schedule
A hardening program stalls when its parts advance separately. A replacement pole location may be designed before access is confirmed. A construction package may be complete while an attachment transfer remains unresolved. Materials may arrive before the right-of-way approval allows crews to use the planned work area.
Those gaps leave the utility managing redesign, rescheduling, and unfinished circuit segments. Draftech connects design decisions to the conditions required to build them. We track permitting, material requirements, joint-use coordination, and field readiness against the same defined scope.
Before releasing a segment for construction, we reconcile its drawings with the approvals, access arrangements, and utility outage requirements that apply. When a condition changes, our engineers and construction team resolve the effect on that segment and its adjoining work. The utility has one team responsible for carrying the decision into the field.
Build the improvements each circuit needs
As a grid hardening construction contractor, Draftech combines the following work into a coordinated distribution program. The scope follows the assessment and approved design for each segment.
Pole replacement and stronger classes
We identify structures requiring replacement and design the pole class, height, configuration, and attachment arrangement around the proposed loading and clearances. Construction includes setting replacement poles and coordinating transfers of electric and communications attachments. A stronger pole must fit the surrounding spans and the utility's operating needs, so replacement decisions are reviewed as part of the circuit design.
Guying and anchoring
Guy and anchor work belongs in the initial assessment, especially where line angles, dead ends, or changed conductors affect the structure. We review the proposed arrangement alongside available space, field conditions, and right-of-way limits. Draftech-managed crews install the specified improvements as part of the pole work, with conflicts addressed before installation.
Reconductoring and hardware upgrades
Conductor changes require a coordinated review of supporting structures, sag, clearances, and attachment hardware. Our engineers define the reconductoring scope and associated pole, guy, crossarm, and hardware work. Construction sequencing accounts for transfers and the utility's outage arrangements so the approved design can be installed as a complete segment.
Selective undergrounding
We evaluate overhead-to-underground conversion where it addresses a defined exposure or recurring problem. Route feasibility, existing utilities, access, drainage conditions, and overhead transition locations shape the design. Our underground construction scope brings the selected conversion segments into the same program as the overhead improvements.
Vegetation-clearance coordination
Vegetation work must align with the proposed line configuration and construction access. We coordinate clearance needs with the utility's vegetation management program, identify locations that affect the build, and incorporate the agreed work sequence. In wildfire regions, that coordination follows the utility's mitigation priorities and site restrictions alongside the distribution engineering scope.
Start with circuit priorities and verified field conditions
A useful priority list connects exposure to the consequences of a circuit failure. Draftech works with your utility's outage history, asset records, operating priorities, and hardening objectives to define which segments need assessment first. Critical service needs, difficult access, shared attachments, and related capital work inform the construction sequence.
Our field survey verifies the information needed to move from a planning map to a buildable package. We review pole configurations, span information, attachments, guying, access, and visible conflicts within the agreed assessment scope. Missing records and discrepancies become specific engineering tasks before construction starts.
The regional hazard also shapes the questions we resolve. Hurricane programs call for attention to wind exposure and the proposed structural system. Ice-region programs require the loading assessment to address applicable ice and wind conditions. Wildfire-region programs require coordination with the utility's mitigation plan, vegetation program, and construction restrictions.
Engineer the complete pole and span arrangement
Hardening decisions need a defined design basis. Draftech's in-house engineers establish applicable National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) loading district criteria and utility requirements for the project. Pole loading analysis evaluates the existing and proposed arrangement so pole, conductor, attachment, and guying decisions work together.
The design package translates that analysis into construction instructions: which structures change, what equipment is specified, where attachments move, and which clearances must be maintained. For shared poles, communications transfers and make-ready requirements enter the design and sequencing review before the field work is released.
Where your utility is also planning capacity improvements or broadband work, we review the overlapping scope during engineering. That gives the utility an opportunity to align pole replacements, transfers, and access arrangements within the hardening program.
Resolve approvals and access before mobilization
Right-of-way conditions can change where a pole, anchor, or underground route can be built. Draftech incorporates permitting into the engineering sequence, preparing the required packages and coordinating submissions with the applicable state DOT, county right-of-way office, or other reviewing authority.
We also coordinate with utility pole owners and affected attachers. Construction planning covers work-area access, traffic-control needs, vegetation-clearance dependencies, and the utility's requirements for outages and switching. These items become part of segment readiness, with unresolved conditions identified before crews are assigned to that work.
Program cost and schedule follow the actual mix of improvements. Pole quantities and classes, conductor scope, underground route conditions, attachment transfers, material availability, and approval dependencies all affect the plan. Draftech develops the construction scope around those inputs so the utility can evaluate what is included and what must be resolved.
Close out the work for utility acceptance
Draftech-managed crews build to the approved packages under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program. Field questions return to the in-house engineering team, and approved changes are carried into the project records. We coordinate inspection, required testing, and energization activities with the utility's operating and acceptance procedures.
Our as-built documentation records the completed configuration and approved field changes. Closeout requirements are established with your utility so drawings, inspection records, and applicable test documentation support asset records and program reporting. The handover gives operations staff a record of what was installed and where the final work differs from the original design.
Storm Hardening Construction Services FAQ
Can Draftech take a circuit list through construction?
Yes. We can start with your circuit priorities, verify field conditions, perform the engineering in-house, and deliver full turnkey construction. The initial scope establishes the assessment boundaries, utility inputs, deliverables, and construction responsibilities.
Does every hardening program require undergrounding?
No. Pole upgrades, guying, anchoring, and reconductoring may address the defined needs of an overhead segment. Selective undergrounding is evaluated against site conditions, exposure, access, and the utility's program objectives.
How are shared poles handled?
We incorporate joint-use review and attachment transfers into the engineering and construction plan. The sequence identifies the affected attachers and the work that must occur before subsequent activities can proceed. This coordination keeps shared-pole requirements visible throughout the program.
Can you work from an existing hardening design?
We can review an existing package with your utility to establish the construction scope. That review checks field information, design requirements, approvals, and unresolved dependencies before mobilization. Any required engineering revisions are performed in-house.
What information should we provide to scope the work?
Start with circuit maps, the proposed work area, available asset records, and your hardening priorities. Existing assessments, design packages, permit status, and outage constraints help define the next steps. We identify additional field information needed to complete the scope.
Scope your distribution hardening program
Give Draftech the circuit segments you want to strengthen and the constraints your utility needs to manage. We will define the engineering, approvals, coordination, and construction work needed to move the program forward. Contact our team to scope your storm hardening project.
info@draftech.com | 305-306-7407 | Miami Lakes, FL