Joint Trench Fiber and Electric Construction
Put both utilities on one coordinated engineering and construction schedule. Draftech delivers in-house design and full turnkey construction by Draftech-managed crews for new fiber and electric distribution routes, underground and aerial.
One joint trench fiber electric contractor for both scopes
Draftech delivers joint trench and joint build projects from route survey through closeout. As a joint trench fiber electric contractor, Draftech covers both disciplines: fiber and electric distribution engineering performed 100% in-house, followed by full turnkey construction delivered by Draftech-managed crews. The result is a coordinated design and permit package, a single construction schedule, and one accountable team for both scopes.
Separate designs can place the same crossing at different stations, or the electric design can select pole locations and heights without the fiber attachment. A route or schedule change by one trade may reach the other trade's crew only when the conflict shows up in the trench or on the pole. A new pole line can be framed for power before anyone checks the planned fiber attachment. Those mismatches leave crews waiting, excavation reopened, or poles needing rework while the owners resolve which drawing the field should follow.
Our utility construction services bring the engineering decisions and field execution under a single point of accountability. Draftech-managed crews build both trades' scopes against the coordinated package, under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program. Each facility owner's construction standards and approvals continue to govern its own facilities.
Built for a shared growth corridor
This service fits an ISP or carrier that is building alongside a municipal utility, electric cooperative, or investor-owned utility on a new route, and needs one fiber and power co-deployment contractor for the whole route. It also fits subdivisions and developments where fiber and electric distribution must advance together. The project can include a shared trench, a new shared pole line, or both along the corridor. Draftech brings each owner's standards into engineering together so the construction package addresses the project both owners intend to build.
Fiber and distribution engineering under one roof
Draftech develops both designs from the route survey forward. Our fiber engineers define the communications route, strand attachment heights or conduit size and count, and the locations where the fiber network enters or leaves the shared corridor. Our distribution engineers develop the electric route, pole heights and classes, equipment locations, and construction details around the utility's criteria.
Those contributions meet in a design review that checks their physical compatibility. The review checks that the fiber route connects to its proposed support or pathway at the locations shown and that shared distribution structures accommodate the planned communications facilities. It also checks that crossing locations and geometry match in both disciplines' drawings.
We resolve discrepancies between the designs before release. For example, an electric design may size an angle or dead-end pole and its guying for the conductors alone. The fiber strand adds tension at that pole, so our engineers rerun the pole loading and guying checks with the fiber included before release. The field package then describes the actual combined installation instead of leaving the crews to reconcile the drawings on site.
Because both disciplines sit inside Draftech, your project manager does not have to act as the messenger between separate design firms.
Draftech prepares each owner's permit submissions from the coordinated design so they all show the same route. Reviewer comments on any submission come back to the engineers who drew both designs.
New pole lines designed with fiber included
For aerial joint builds, Draftech designs the new pole line to carry electric distribution and fiber from the start. Pole height and class are chosen with the fiber attachment included. Pole loading checks each pole with the distribution conductors, equipment, and fiber strand together. NESC clearance review sets the fiber's attachment height to maintain the required separation below the power space and the required ground clearance at midspan.
That early inclusion matters when the utility selects poles and framing. A design developed only around the electric facilities can leave the fiber provider facing an unsuitable attachment position after construction. Correcting it then means make-ready on a line that was just built.
Our pole loading analysis supports those structural decisions. The owner can review the proposed combined arrangement with the engineering behind it.
Where the joint route also uses existing poles, required work belongs in the associated make-ready construction scope. For a standalone pole program without a simultaneous fiber build, see pole installation and replacement.
Underground design that carries both disciplines into construction
Draftech's joint trench package sets one trench or duct bank cross-section that places the electric and communications conduits with the separation each owner requires. It ties each owner's handholes, pad-mounted equipment, and service points to that cross-section by route location.
Our conduit and duct bank design provides the engineering basis for the communications pathway. Our underground distribution design supplies the electric portion. Within the joint build, Draftech checks the connection between those designs, including whether dimensions in the detailed drawings agree with the overall route plans.
This review addresses a common gap between a complete drawing and a complete construction package. A typical detail can describe an acceptable arrangement while the route plan fails to show where that detail applies. Draftech connects the detail to the proposed installation so crews can identify the engineered configuration for the section they are building.
One schedule directs both construction scopes
Draftech-managed crews deliver combined telecom and electric construction against one coordinated schedule. The schedule connects the work each trade must complete with the work that follows it, giving Draftech responsibility for managing those dependencies across the route.
Underground, both trades' conduits must be in the open trench before backfill, so a slipped electric installation date has to move the fiber crew to the same day. On the aerial route, poles must be set and framed before the fiber crew strings strand. Draftech carries that schedule impact to both crews and adjusts the planned sequence around the affected work.
Engineering remains connected during construction. When a crew raises a discrepancy between the package and the field condition, Draftech brings the question back to the responsible in-house engineers. The construction team receives the approved direction for the affected installation, and both trades receive instructions relevant to their work.
QA/QC across the shared installation
Draftech's QA/QC and safety program covers both scopes on the shared route. Quality reviews check construction against the coordinated design and the owner construction standards governing each facility.
The construction sequence determines whether Draftech-managed crews place the fiber before or after the distribution facilities are energized. Where that work happens on an energized line, it is planned under OSHA requirements for working near energized lines, with crew qualifications and approach distances set before work starts. The utility retains control of its operating actions and energization.
At closeout, Draftech delivers an as-built record tying the completed fiber and electric distribution facilities back to the coordinated design.
Joint Trench Fiber and Electric Construction FAQ
Can we engage Draftech before the route is finalized?
Yes. Bring the proposed corridor and the fiber and distribution plans and construction standards available from the participating owners. Draftech can develop the joint engineering scope from route survey forward and connect it to the planned construction.
Can one project include shared trench and new shared poles?
Yes. Draftech scopes the underground and aerial portions together where both form part of the new joint route. Our engineers address conduit arrangements and pole configurations within the coordinated design, and the construction schedule includes both.
Does a coordinated package replace each owner's design approval?
No. Each owner reviews and approves its own facilities within the coordinated package. Draftech's in-house engineers develop the combined design and Draftech-managed crews construct it, while each owner's standards and approval requirements stay in force.
What if our route includes a short section of existing poles?
Identify that section when we scope the project. Draftech can include the required make-ready scope and its dependencies alongside the new joint construction. The proposed work on existing poles needs to be established before it becomes a constraint on the new build.
Bring both scopes to Draftech
Share your proposed corridor, participating owners, available drawings, owner construction standards, and intended construction dates. Identify which portions are planned underground and which require new shared poles. We will define the in-house engineering and full turnkey construction scope delivered by Draftech-managed crews to bring both facilities together.
Contact Draftech about your joint build or request a free design consultation.