Energy news from Omaha Public Power District
Energy news from Omaha Public Power District
As OPPD continues work to expand its generation capacity in response to unprecedented growth in the demand for power, departments and teams across the utility are expanding.
Among them is the Underground Construction department. The group is responsible for some of the earliest physical work done on new sites, from new gas plants to new housing developments.
The department is adding a third boring crew, a new apprentice program and a boot camp starting this summer to hire new workers.
Underground construction work
“We touch just about everything that is going on in the district,” said Andy Clark, field supervisor in Transmission & Distribution at OPPD. “And it’s just going to keep getting busier.
“Across the district, there seems to be a huge need for underground services.”
The department has 38 construction crew members. More will be added this summer with the boot camp, the first the department has held.
The department’s move to add a third bore crew is due to the growth in the region. Boring and groundwork are two of the main things the Underground Construction department does.
“The future is in boring,” Clark said. “It is much less intrusive than trenching or digging with an excavator.”
Boring involves digging two holes – a beginning and an end point – to install underground cable.
The operator uses a boring machine that pushes rods through the ground between the holes, then pulls back cable or duct up to five inches in diameter.
Trenching involves opening a trench to install an insulated power cable.
Heavy crews, light crews
The underground crews are divided into “heavy” and “light” construction crews.
Heavy crews perform jobs like installing duct lines, working on deep excavations and installing concrete manholes. They also pour concrete up to and including street panels, Clark said.
The heavy crews also rebuild concrete manholes in OPPD’s complex downtown network, as well as installing cable and equipment such as switches (equipment that can isolate an electrical circuit) in new residential and commercial developments.
Donnie Clark, construction worker 1st class, recently ran an excavator as others in the crew worked to set lines for new service at a home under construction in a gated community in Ponca Hills. He maneuvered the big bucket to excavate between two existing cable lines, work that requires considerable skill.
Light construction crews’ jobs are typically smaller both in scope and in length of time spent on a project. A series of streetlight installations in Elkhorn on a recent morning is an example of a typical light construction job.
Light construction projects are one- to three-day projects, like cable installations and individual residential work. Distribution services are also part of the light construction group and focus on the underground secondary cables, said Jerry Webster, a field supervisor in Transmission & Distribution.
“We install new house services and repair underground house service cables,” Webster said.
Both types of crews assist line crews during storm restoration.
Apprenticeship program
The new apprenticeship program will standardize employees’ progression through the ranks via on-the-job training, classroom work and tests.
A Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) will govern and oversee the program. Clark will chair the JATC for the underground apprenticeship program, which is three years long and also includes evaluations of their work in the field.
Apprentices will do everything their co-workers do, including:
- Operate dump trucks, bore machines, excavators, skid loaders and trenchers.
- Work with various terrain, including concrete, rock, soil and boulders.
- Operate in all grade environments, including hilltops, side slopes, river and creek crossings, bridges, wetlands, and paved and gravel roads.
Apprentices and veterans
Brian Klusaw, an apprentice construction worker, has been with underground for two years and is one of the first enrollees in the apprenticeship program. He currently works on the heavy construction crew.
Apprentices and helpers switch among crews to gain experience and become more well-rounded.
Klusaw recently took his first test and passed. He’s one of four in the apprentice class. He previously worked for a cable communications company that sometimes did contract work for OPPD.
“I study at the end of the day and on weekends after my son’s baseball games and my daughter’s tumbling events are over,” Klusaw said. “I’m glad to be in the class and here at OPPD. I think the apprenticeship program is great. We will all have the same knowledge base and be o9n the same page.”
On the flip side is Brian Krejci, a construction worker 1st class. He is a 17-year veteran with the utility and a third-generation OPPD employee. His father, Bernie, worked as a steamfitter at North Omaha Station, and his grandfather, Joe, worked in underground construction.
“I’ve been around OPPD my whole life,” Krejci said. “This has always been a family-oriented company, and it makes me proud to see it survive all these years and keep up with the philosophy of having this stable foundation that the community relies upon while everything else changes.”
With the new boot camp program coming this summer, where applicants will run through a series of skilled activities and interviews, OPPD’s Underground Construction team hopes to find the next group of workers who are ready to help build the future for the utility and its communities.
Jason Kuiper joined OPPD as a communications specialist in 2015. He is a former staff writer and reporter at the Omaha World-Herald, where he covered a wide range of topics but spent the majority of his career covering crime. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has also appeared in several true crime documentary shows. In his free time he enjoys cooking, spending time with his wife and three children, and reading crime novels.
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