Civil Energy: 2022 Year in Review

Keeley Civil epitomizes Keeley’s mission and values. The team illustrates this through execution in complex, highly specialized, and structurally challenging environments. The Civil Group’s ability to adapt and respond to the evolving needs of their diverse customer base provides vital differentiation in this complex field. Keeley Civil is divided into two groups – Energy and Infrastructure. The Energy team provides the following services to customers across the nation:

Foundations | Sitework | Access | Transmission & Distribution

The Civil Energy Team is guided by Keeley’s mission and values, but strives to take that mission to the next level. Civil Energy is dedicated to safely solving all customer challenges while creating opportunities for team members to learn, grow, and thrive. Safety and security are a big part of the Keeley mission and culture, and since the team is constantly involved in protecting power grids during electric work. Civil Energy truly serves customers with an unmatched dedication to safety and quality, allowing them to achieve four years of ZERO recordables!

However, the group’s largest project and proudest accomplishment is the Holland-Neoga T-Line. Civil Energy self-performed all drilling and was able to complete the project almost two months ahead of schedule.

Keeley Construction’s Civil Energy Group was called upon by a decades-long trusted partner to assist with the upgrade and rebuild of the Holland-Neoga T-Line in Illinois. This 16-mile transmission line started with the Holland NW Substation in Shelby, IL and ended with the Neoga S. Substation in Neoga, IL. Following the completion of the project, an electrical contractor was able to upgrade the old 345kV line to a new, double circuit 345kV line on monopoles, carrying more capacity and reducing the footprint on the surrounding farmer’s fields.

When the client first approached Keeley about this project, the team provided the requested proposal under the parameters of working under a single, 10-week outage, running multiple drill rigs running simultaneously. This original scope was called into question by the client’s operations group, leading to a new scope in which the outage needed to be minimized as much as possible. Keeley’s wealth of experience in the Drilling and Energy Delivery markets proved to be a perfect fit as the team understood the client’s needs and were able to provide an innovative solution. After many discussions and some tactical planning, it was decided that about 92% of the project could be performed under the hazard of the live, high voltage transmission line if Keeley adjusted their approach and equipment set-up. This ability to adapt to changing needs allowed Keeley to submit a new proposal that would only require just two short outages throughout the duration of the project. After Keeley was awarded the project, the team continued to innovate and was able to formulate an improved plan, reducing the need for two outages down to one and completing the project two months ahead of schedule.

Click here to learn more about the project!

The Civil Energy team has worked on a lot of other incredible projects this year, including the Fuller Substation and substation work for a technology provider as part of a large program.

Keeley Construction’s Civil Energy Group was called upon by a decades-long trusted partner to build the Fuller Substation and T-Line in Brussels, IL. This 12.2 acre greenfield substation consisted of 104 foundations and five large diameter T-Line foundations. Due to Keeley’s extensive pre-planning and dedication to safety, quality and service, this project was completed on-time and on-budget.

The Substation portion of this project required the team to balance the 25,000+ CY of dirt onsite and bring in additional fill to build the pad before installing various drainage systems for stormwater runoff. Once this was complete, the team went on to place 800+ CY of concrete foundation, 1,300+ feet of fencing, and 4,000+ tons of rock to complete the substation civil package.

The T-Line portion of this project consisted of large diameter deep foundations placed under an outage of the 138kV Transmission Line, the largest being 12’ diameter x 52’ depth. The sizes and subsurface conditions of these foundations was a known challenge when Keeley bid the project, but the team was able to implement innovative solutions to defeat this challenge and plan to provide a high-quality product. The team then encountered unknown subsurface coals layers that brought additional challenges after drilling began as it consumed much of the slurry fluids during drilling and required twice the amount of water than was anticipated. The team was able to work with the Client’s Engineer to quickly come up with an adjustment in their approach, allowing the team to complete the foundation safely and to the highest quality standards. Keeley’s ability to self-perform 100% of the project allowed for adaptability to the changing site conditions and the complete satisfaction from the Client.

“The Keeley crews did a phenomenal job getting the work done in a tight window without extending the outage. They worked safely without incident and completed the scope despite some unforeseen complications.”

-Client’s Construction Supervisor

As the Civil Energy Team continues to grow, they look towards the future with excitement and ambition.

“My vision for the future is to continue our pattern of controlled growth at a rate in which we maintain safety, quality, and customer satisfaction. We are at over four years without a single recordable, and I look forward to continuing this record while setting an example for what it means to be safe every day.”

-Mark Wojtal, VP of Energy

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