Groundwork for the Grid: The Civil Engineering That Undergirds Electrical Transmission

Flip the switch, and the lights come on. That’s the expectation in 21st-century America. But it doesn’t happen by itself—the electricity that powers today’s phones, appliances, and electric vehicle batteries is generated by facilities miles away from most users. It’s the grid that gets power from where it’s produced to where it’s used.

Although the grid is most associated with electrical engineering, an important civil engineering and land development effort keeps the components stable and secure. Transmission lines that carry electricity long distances and substations that adjust the voltage for consumers rely on civil engineers to shape the land they’re built on. Across the South, Poulos & Bennett, a Pape-Dawson company, performs that crucial work.

Civil Engineering that Lays the Groundwork for Electrical Facilities

The details of a site development project depend on client needs. Sometimes, Poulos & Bennett conducts a siting study. “An electric utility may identify a future distribution load center due to anticipated growth in an area and ask us to help find parcels to build or expand substations,” says Jamie Poulos, P.E., LEED AP, Partner at Poulos & Bennett. That detailed effort results in a list of possible properties to purchase or pursue through eminent domain.

Their work often includes complicated local and state permitting, which varies by jurisdiction and changes over time. With over 15 years specializing in substations, Poulos & Bennett has developed both the knowledge base and the local relationships to make the permitting process move as efficiently as possible. In light of their expertise, clients regularly ask them to handle permitting for other firms’ projects, too.

After acquiring the land for a substation, site civil engineering tasks may include paving, grading, drainage, stormwater, utilities and roadway extensions for access, as well as fence and wall plans. Expanding an existing substation could mean enlarging graveled-in space, adding fencing, improving drainage, or placing more entrances.

Engineering Specially for Electrical Enclosures

Much of the work for electrical facilities is standard for the rough-hewn construction used for building sites or oil and gas operations. Other aspects, such as emergency access, are different. “We have discussions with local fire departments about where they can safely have access to the substation site,” says Jamie. Civil engineers come into these projects ready to educate local officials about federal laws and safety protocols that keep first responders away from dangerous electrical components.

During substation design, engineers consider the electric utilities’ needs to haul heavy equipment to and from the site, as well. “They have to deliver very large transformers,” says Poulos & Bennett Project Manager Rick Ortiz, P.E. “We can model the delivery route of that heavy equipment to determine the best ways to access a site.”

Landscaping for a substation is unique, too. Landscape code in many localities requires canopy trees, for example, but power lines that enter the substation frequently prevent that. “We work closely with the city or county, presenting them with options like understory trees or shrubs…and sometimes the needs of the substation just make significant landscaping impossible.”

Engineering for resiliency has taken a bigger role in recent years, too. “These days, much of our work is centered on extreme storm events, and how to protect the equipment and keep the power on during storms,” Jamie says. In Florida, they have designed substations for a 100-year flood event. When a client in a coastal state recently asked them for a design to withstand a 500-year flood, Poulos & Bennett harnessed state-of-the-art mapping and engineering resources to propose flood walls, gates, accesses, pumps, and other features to keep the substation running.

As Demand Increases, So Will Engineering Requirements

Once stable for decades, electrical demand is now spiking due to increasing populations, electric vehicles, and energy-intensive data centers. “Since the advent of electricity, it’s been primarily for light, heat, and movement, but in just the past few years, data has become a new and growing demand category,” says Jamie. “It took over a century for us to generate the electricity we have now, and experts say we’ll need to double it in just 10 or 15 years to keep up with demand.”

For his team, that equates to plenty of work helping utilities expand existing substations, build new ones, and increase transmission capability. The civil engineering and land development tasks depend on the location. For example, when demand growth requires a new substation in a dense urban area, a smaller GIS (gas insulated switchgear) substation might fit the bill. “A GIS substation may be more expensive, but it can be ideal for urban areas, since we can enclose it in a building and make it look like part of the urban landscape, while also protecting the electrical components from harsh weather conditions, such as hurricanes,” says Jamie.

Aging infrastructure also plays a part in the surge for additional substation and transmission capacity, says Poulos & Bennett Team Leader Marc Stehli, P.E., LEED AP. “A lot of facilities are pretty old, and many are in rural areas where they may not have had great upkeep,” he says. “Some of these older substations currently don’t have any flexibility if there’s an outage, so they need to add a separate relay to keep electricity flowing from somewhere else,” adds Rick. Those improvements require land development and civil engineering, too.

While electrical engineers often take the spotlight, it’s civil engineers who ensure the substation is structurally sound and built to last. In powering the modern world, they play a quiet but critical role in keeping the grid resilient, reliable, and ready to meet the growing demands of America’s communities and industries.