CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF INNOVATION
aldridgegroup.com
WINTER 2022
70
Celebrating
Years
For the past 70 years, Aldridge has built a reputation for taking on the industry’s most challenging projects. Our founder, Len Aldridge, started working in Nebraska during the 1930s with a single truck providing power to local farmers, residents, and businesses. He was well known for his reliability, honesty, knowledge, and hard work. In 1952, Len established the business and moved to Illinois where he started to build a backlog of highway work that would later expand into the commercial, industrial, and airport markets. His sons, Ken and Warren, later took over the business and started pursuing more complex projects in heavy infrastructure, foundation drilling, mass transit, and utility work. Capitalizing on an appetite for complex execution and a knack for innovation, the company spent the next four decades pursuing challenging projects, building strong relationships, and growing to be a nationwide contractor. Today, Aldridge is one of the leading electrical contractors in the nation actively executing large projects in the energy and transportation infrastructure markets. Third-generation leaders, Alex and Steve Aldridge, lead the company and are dedicated to keeping the family principles alive. Aldridge is committed to Building and Strengthening America’s Infrastructure to Improve Quality of Life for the next 70 years and beyond. Pipeline | Winter 2022
A LETTER FROM ALEX AND STEVE Though we started as a humble electrical contractor that provided power to commercial buildings in the Midwest, we have become a leading national technology partner that performs over 600 projects in nearly 30 states each year. This year, we are honored to celebrate 70 years in business, and we are very proud of our many successes. We have always fostered an entrepreneurial culture, encouraging employees and customers to consider safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective ways to deliver projects. We work hard to ensure that our entire workforce knows they are supported when bringing new ideas to the table, and we genuinely pursue continuous learning and improvement. This issue of the Pipeline highlights some of the innovations we have recently built into our processes and projects. The people, technology, and creative solutions we can provide help us serve our clients better. We thank our passionate people for always pursuing excellence and our customers for trusting our ingenuity. We look forward to strengthening America’s infrastructure for generations to come. Be Safe,
Alex Aldridge, CEO
Steve Aldridge, CIO
TABLE OF CONTENTS Safety Committed • •
Aldridge 2021 Awards Safety Week 2022
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Aldridge Builds • • •
Feature StoryFrederick Douglass Memorial Bridge EPC 138kV Transmission Line Grid Pressure Relief
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Aldridge Innovates • •
Specialty Equipment PreFabrication & BIM Modeling
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ALDRIDGE 2021 AWARDS
As leaders in the industry, we take pride in reflecting on the awards we have received. Share in our successes of 2021!
ARTBA (AMERICAN ROAD & TRANSPORTATION BUILDERS ASSOCIATION) Large Contractor Safety Award IRBTA (ILLINOIS ROAD AND TRANSPORTATION BUILDERS ASSOCIATION) Golden Hard Hat Safety Award ROADS & BRIDGES MAGAZINE Top 10 Bridge - Lake Shore Drive ADSC INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FOUNDATION DRILLING Safety Award - 750,000+ work hours with TRC and DART rates below industry standard ENR (ENGINEERING NEWS RECORD) Top 5 Midwest Specialty Contractors #45 | Top 600 Specialty Contractor #18 | Top 50 Electrical Firms NECA (NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION) Safety Excellence UCA (UNDERGROUND CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION) Safety Award Pipeline | Winter 2022
2022 Chairman: Ken Aldridge 2022 is an exciting year because our very own Chairman of the Board, Ken Aldridge, is the chair of Construction Safety Week. Aldridge has been a member company and part of the executive committee for many years, and we are thrilled to spend May 2nd - May 6th alongside hundreds of other contractors focused on making our industry a safer place to work. Safety Week is an annual opportunity to recommit to our culture of being incident and injury free. We spend the week with teams across the country discussing our safety mission and reinforcing the message that safety is our top value. This year’s theme, “Connected. Supported. Safe.”, will drive conversations about both physical safety and mental wellness and remind us that when we connect and support one another, we can conquer any challenge.
Join us on our journey as the Chair Company of Construction Safety Week: May 2nd - 6th, 2022 aldridgegroup.com/safetyweek2022 Page | 44
ALDRIDGE BUILDS: FEATURE STORY Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge
As seen on the front cover: In Washington, DC, the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative Program is a $10 billion investment concentrated on transforming the shores of the Anacostia River into a waterfront destination. As part of this program, the District’s Department of Transportation led the largest project in their history with the iconic arched Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
Pipeline | Winter 2022
Aldridge was part of a team of contractors that began work in June 2018. Our scope of work included roadway and bridge lighting (aesthetic and navigational), fiber optic cable installation, sign structures, traffic signaling, duct bank, and communication and intelligent traffic systems. Aldridge also installed the building distribution equipment under the bridge and supplied power, lighting, and ventilation inside the arches for maintenance workers.
Crews utilized manlifts on barges to guide the packages in place while the duct bank was flown in on cranes from an over-water trestle extending out over the Anacostia River. In order to install the distribution equipment, the Aldridge PreFab Team built and assembled sections that were rigged at an angle to slide into the window of the floor beams as one whole duct bank section. This greatly accelerated the schedule, allowing crews to advance the installation timeframe and work within the tight window for project delivery while maintaining an injury-free work site. These fiberglass reinforced conduits in the floor beams run the entire length of the 1,450 footbridge.
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ALDRIDGE BUILDS:
EPC 138kV Transmission Line Aldridge crews, as part of a JV with Kiewit, worked to rebuild nearly 40 miles of single and double circuit 138kV transmission line to increase electric reliability in Southeast Ohio. Aldridge managed the entire project and performed the civil and foundation drilling scope of work for this complex EPC project.
Pipeline | Winter 2022
Our alternate proposal offered a value-engineered approach. Utilizing our project planning tools, we were able to offer a solution that focused on pre-planning and allowed for condensed outages, ultimately leading to a schedule that was half the duration of the proposed schedule. With over 130,000 work hours, this project was completed over the course of three years, with concurrent construction occurring in multiple segments. Responsible for subcontractor management and alignment, the JV oversaw operations of those crews that made up half the workforce on-site. Significant pre-planning was underway well before crews arrived on-site. Contractor coordination helped to navigate the challenging terrain, landowner management, and unique work scopes as described below. Throughout the length of this transmission line, the terrain varied between heavily populated urban areas to more agricultural regions. The weather and terrain had an effect on work approaches and schedules. Landowner management became vital when working in urban regions, requiring more attention to restoration efforts. In more rural areas, the use of our subcontractor’s helicopter became invaluable, providing a workforce equivalent to that of the use of five bucket trucks. It also minimized impacts on landowner property, crops, and equipment damage. As a full-service utility contractor, Aldridge consistently provides a high level of safety, quality, and planning on all of our projects.
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ALDRIDGE BUILDS: Grid Pressure Relief
The US power grid is under increasing pressure as it struggles to keep up with increased electricity demands. Work is already underway across the country to upgrade aging infrastructure to enhance reliability and alleviate overall pressure on the grid.
Pipeline | Winter 2022
Severe Weather Preparatory Measures | West Coast On the West Coast, Aldridge is replacing wood poles with steel for numerous transmission line rebuild projects throughout Arizona, Washington, and Oregon. Additionally, many areas are shifting to the use of renewable energy as an alternative source to help reduce pressure on the grid. On a recent project in Oregon, we brought power from a wind farm to the grid with an overhead transmission line.
Manhole Assessment Program | Washington, DC Aldridge has entered year three of a multi-year initiative to assess more than 60,000 manholes and vaults across our nation’s capital. The program will help develop a preventative maintenance strategy, focused reliability improvements, and create a transactional history of the targeted assets. An added benefit of this program is real-time reporting that provides access to 360 degree and thermal photography for crews to review during emergency conditions.
Disaster Response | Louisiana In September 2021, one of the most powerful and rapidly intensifying hurricanes to hit the United States made landfall in Louisiana. Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 mph, ravished Port Fourchon and its surrounding areas, destroying 75% of the existing infrastructure. Aldridge crews were part of the efforts that restored power to the area. Our work included the installation of corrugated metal pipe (CMP) which will make future repairs more manageable.
500kV Rebuild | Florida Everglades As part of a 500kV tangent structure rebuild program in Florida, a number of the structures that need repair/replacement have been deemed as efficient and required completion ahead of the 2021 hurricane season. This work was prioritized to prevent future damage to an already susceptible coastal city. Many of this line’s foundation locations are inaccessible by vehicular access. A combination of amphibious equipment, barges, and boats is being used to reach the marine right-of-way.
GIS Substation | Washington, DC Aldridge was contracted to furnish and install the electrical components for a greenfield 69/138kV gas-insulated substation (GIS). The demand for power is growing and with little to no room available for large substations in urban environments, more and more utilities are utilizing GIS. Beyond the space saving benefits, GIS substations offer significantly less maintenance, a safer product with less potential for arc flash, and enhanced security.
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ALDRIDGE INNOVATES: Specialty Equipment
Since our inception, our strategy has always been to “Recruit and Develop the Industry’s Most Passionate and Creative People to Take on the Industry’s Most Challenging Work.” These creative team members dream up our industry’s leading innovations that challenge the way infrastructure work is executed which fuels the Aldridge innovative spirit.
Pipeline | Winter 2022
Rail Tie Crane | Midwest
For over 30 years, Aldridge has been providing innovative solutions to the rail industry. One of our most utilized pieces is a modified rail tie crane with specialized attachments that allow threading of the contact rail onto the opposite track when working on the third rail. Compared to the standard method of cutting rail in sections, this method allows crews a safer, smoother installation process.
Conduit Pulling Sled | California
Work sequencing can be a challenge for any construction project. For Aldridge, it provides an opportunity to utilize innovative installation methods and specialty equipment. For use on a streetcar project, our innovations team created a conduit sled that eliminates the need to thread conduit within a concrete rebar reinforcement. This innovation tripled our productivity versus a traditional method.
Amphibious Fleet | Florida
First used for a project in the Everglades, our IMT 190 Drill Rig was outfitted with the world’s largest set of pontoon tracks to reach over eight miles of transmission line only accessible by water. Today, our specially designed amphibious fleet includes rigs, excavators, barges, pontoon sleds, and custom airboats to handle any complex project on land or water.
Skid Steer Grapple Attachment | Midwest
Our drilling job sites are home to a number of pieces of heavy materials and tooling that need to be safely moved or relocated. To ensure positive load control, a custom attachment for a Skid Steer was designed and fabricated. This attachment allows for a hydraulically controlled “claw” to clamp down on tooling and materials and eliminates the need for an additional groundman and a potential line of fire safety hazard.
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ALDRIDGE INNOVATES:
PreFabrication and BIM Modeling
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At Aldridge, collaboration begins early. Our BIM team’s knowledge is critical to helping plan the sequencing of work, identifying prefabrication opportunities and developing a bill of materials to use on bulk material purchases, alongside seamless concept-to-construction workflows.
47’
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Pipeline | Winter 2022
Pump Station PreFab Build - Rack 7 | Illinois This 7,100 lb structure, one of the largest PreFab builds to date, was 3D modeled and detailed out to be built directly in the Aldridge PreFab shop. In Chicago, Aldridge is providing the electrical infrastructure for a pump station project that will eliminate flooding from a nearby river. Before work began, our project team identified an opportunity for utility prefabrication. From there, our BIM team 3D modeled and detailed out Rack 7 (one of two racks), allowing the project team the ability to view the installation from different angles and layers, as well as fabricate the rack right in the Aldridge PreFab shop. Building this structure using our off-site facility allowed for a more accurate installation. The side entry points needed to align with the in-wall racks and the stub up locations in order to enter equipment openings of the switchgear. The proper alignment was critical to the success of this installation. The result was the fabrication of two large conduit racks designated for utility service and generator feeds which were then tied together and installed in one piece 15 feet below grade in the pump station’s new electric room. Utilizing our offsite facility minimized on-site safety exposures, reduced in-field work hours, and decreased installation time to drive the project schedule.
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Aldridge 844 East Rockland Road Libertyville, IL 60048
70
Celebrating
Years
Len Aldridge in the late 1960s overlooking blueprints for Fermilab in Kane County, IL. Aldridge was contracted by DUSAF, a joint venture of four firms, to assist in building the original underground power system for the accelerator ring and the overhead transmission line that powered it. This was a major project for Aldridge and helped set the stage for a future rooted in innovation.
For more information, contact marketing@aldridgegroup.com Aldridge is an Equal Opportunity Employer
