Underground Power Line Construction
Full turnkey construction for new underground distribution and joint trench fiber builds. Draftech brings in-house engineering and Draftech-managed crews together under a single point of accountability.
Build the route with one accountable team
Draftech delivers underground power line construction through Draftech-managed crews for electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, developers, and ISPs building alongside electric utilities. Our scope connects route design and permitting with trenching, directional boring, conduit installation, cable placement, and restoration by Draftech-managed crews, followed by closeout. Engineering is 100% in-house. Draftech-managed crews deliver construction under Draftech's QA/QC and safety program.
A buried distribution project can stall before excavation starts. A conduit alignment conflicts with drainage. A fiber participant needs access where the electric design places a vault. A permit package shows a crossing that the construction plans have already changed. Those gaps become redesign, idle crews, or reopened pavement when separate teams work from different assumptions.
As part of our full turnkey utility construction offering, Draftech aligns the design, approvals, and field sequence around the same route. You have one team responsible for resolving discrepancies and carrying approved changes into construction and the final record.
Underground power line installation services
We scope new underground distribution around the utility's requirements, the site's civil plans, and the facilities sharing the corridor. The construction package defines what gets installed, where inspections occur, and how the work connects to the owner's system.
Trenching and directional boring
Draftech plans open-cut trenching, directional boring, or a combination suited to the approved alignment. Trenching exposes the installation corridor for conduit placement and inspection. Directional boring addresses crossings and sections where surface access or restoration constraints favor a trenchless approach.
The method belongs in the design and estimate before mobilization. We reconcile crossing locations, work areas, and access with existing utility conflicts so the field sequence reflects the route's actual constraints. A road crossing also needs a workable approach on either side, including space for equipment and conduit handling.
Conduit, duct bank, vaults, and handholes
Draftech-managed crews install conduit and duct bank, along with vaults, pull boxes, and handholes shown in the approved plans. Layout review addresses conduit arrangement, entry points, access structures, and connections between construction segments.
These details affect more than excavation. A misplaced structure can disrupt a cable pull or put maintenance access in the wrong part of a development. Draftech carries the engineered layout into installation by Draftech-managed crews, with discrepancies resolved before surrounding work conceals or restricts the installation.
Cable pulling and splicing responsibilities
Draftech-managed crews place cable once conduit readiness, access to pulling locations, and the utility's connection requirements are addressed. The scope establishes responsibilities for splicing, terminations, testing, and acceptance before crews reach that stage.
Electric and fiber activities need distinct work plans even when they share a corridor. We align those activities with the overall construction sequence and arrange utility involvement for connection and energization. Completion of excavation alone does not make a circuit ready for service.
Backfill, restoration, and closeout
Restoration requirements belong in the original scope. Draftech-managed crews complete backfill and surface restoration according to the approved plans and permit conditions, including affected pavement, sidewalks, landscaped areas, and other disturbed surfaces.
We also develop the installation record through construction. Field changes must reach the as-built package so the owner receives documentation of the completed route, including facility locations and changes from the issued design.
Joint trench saves excavation when the design is coordinated
Electric distribution and fiber often follow the same new development corridor. A joint trench allows participating utilities to share excavation, backfill, and surface restoration. That can reduce duplicated civil work and the disruption of opening the same route separately.
The savings depend on agreement before construction. Both participants need an accepted alignment, compatible installation requirements, and a schedule that brings materials and approvals to the trench when needed. A fiber route added after the electric package is issued can change the trench arrangement, access structures, and permit drawings.
Buyers comparing contractors for a joint trench fiber and electric build should ask one question: who owns the shared design and permit package? Draftech brings electric and communications design together in-house and carries the coordinated design and permit package into construction by Draftech-managed crews. Our utility coordination work establishes the interfaces between participants before those interfaces become field conflicts.
We resolve the shared scope around these decisions:
- Facility arrangement: Trench sections, conduit positions, required separation, and crossings between systems.
- Access and ownership: Which party owns each facility, where each needs access, and how structures fit the site.
- Installation sequence: When each participant provides materials, completes its work, and attends required inspections.
- Permit alignment: Consistent route information across the drawings and submissions required by each reviewing authority.
- Cost responsibilities: Which excavation, restoration, and project changes belong to each participant's scope.
One coordinated design and permit package does not mean every authority issues the same permit. It means the submissions describe compatible work, and changes are carried through the affected documents. Without that discipline, one participant's approved route can conflict with another's construction release.
Resolve route and permit constraints upstream
Draftech's electric utility engineering team develops the distribution design with construction requirements in view. We reconcile the alignment, conduit and structure layout, utility interfaces, and site constraints before releasing the work for construction.
Field information gives that design a usable basis. Route survey, utility records, locate scheduling, and investigation of identified conflicts support decisions about where the installation can proceed. Existing records and surface markings need to be reconciled with conditions along the proposed route, especially at crossings and congested sections.
Our permitting work connects the planned installation with the requirements of the relevant right-of-way offices and other reviewing authorities. The package must account for the proposed construction method, access, traffic impacts, and restoration obligations where they apply.
When a reviewer requests a route change, the response cannot stop at a revised permit sheet. Draftech carries that change through quantities, structure locations, shared trench arrangements, and the field plan. That keeps the construction team working from the approved scope instead of discovering competing versions at the excavation.
Plan construction around the owner's delivery needs
The route serves a larger project. Draftech sequences underground work by Draftech-managed crews around the milestones that matter to the buyer:
- Electric cooperatives: New distribution extensions, utility material requirements, access, and the operations team's connection sequence.
- Municipal utilities: Right-of-way requirements, public access, street work, and restoration requirements across the affected corridor.
- Developers: Civil grading, drainage, lot access, and paving plans that can constrain when underground facilities are installed.
- ISPs partnering with utilities: Fiber conduit and handhole requirements, shared trench participation, and construction readiness alongside the electric build.
Those priorities shape the work sequence. Installing conduit before the site geometry is settled can create relocation work. Closing the trench before a participant's inspection can require re-exposure. We establish the dependencies and sequence release of each work area so the project advances with the necessary decisions in place.
Establish cost and schedule from the route
A useful construction proposal starts with the planned facilities and the conditions affecting installation. Route length alone does not describe the amount of excavation, the crossing methods, or the surface that must be restored.
Draftech evaluates the scope around ground conditions, existing utility congestion, access, trench and duct bank requirements, structure locations, and cable placement. For joint trench projects, we also establish the shared civil scope and each participant's obligations. This makes the basis of the proposal clear before construction starts.
Schedule planning follows the same discipline. Permit review, site readiness, material availability, inspections, and utility connection activities all affect sequencing. We develop the construction plan around those dependencies and identify unresolved decisions that could prevent a work area from being released.
Send the available route drawings, utility specifications, civil plans, and target service date. We can use that information to define the engineering and construction scope, identify missing inputs, and discuss the path to a buildable package.
Keep quality visible through final acceptance
Buried work becomes difficult to inspect after backfill. Draftech's QA/QC and safety program guides field reviews, required inspections, and resolution of installation discrepancies as the work progresses.
Closeout should reflect what was built. Our as-built documentation scope captures the completed installation and approved field changes for the owner's records. We establish required document formats and applicable acceptance records as part of project scoping, including assembly of testing documentation where specified.
The result is a connected delivery process: engineering defines the installation, construction records changes, and closeout carries those changes into the owner’s final package.
Underground Power Line Construction FAQ
Does Draftech provide both engineering and construction?
Yes. Draftech offers full turnkey construction with engineering performed 100% in-house and field work delivered by Draftech-managed crews under our QA/QC and safety program. The owner has a single point of accountability across design, permitting, construction, and closeout.
Can fiber and electric distribution share one trench?
Yes, where the participating utilities accept a coordinated design that meets their applicable requirements. Draftech resolves facility arrangement, separation, access, installation sequencing, and the permit package before construction. Shared excavation and restoration can reduce duplicated work, but the participants must be ready for the agreed sequence.
Can a project combine trenching and directional boring?
Yes. The route can use different installation methods where access, crossings, existing utilities, and restoration requirements call for them. Draftech establishes those transitions in the design and construction scope so each segment connects to the planned conduit system.
Is this service for new construction or conversion projects?
This service focuses on new underground distribution and joint trench builds. If your project replaces an existing overhead circuit, see our guide to overhead-to-underground power line conversion for that separate planning context.
What information should we provide to start?
Provide the proposed route or site plan, utility owner, available specifications, participating fiber provider if applicable, and target service date. Include existing surveys, permit status, and civil drawings when available. Draftech uses those inputs to identify utility interfaces and define the proposed scope.
Bring us your underground construction scope
Engage Draftech while the route, civil plans, and utility requirements can still be aligned. We connect in-house engineering with full turnkey construction delivered by Draftech-managed crews so decisions made during design carry through to installation, restoration, and closeout.
Active in 24 states. Available across all 50 U.S. states.
Discuss your underground construction project with our team.
info@draftech.com | 305-306-7407 | Miami Lakes, FL