Loading...Data Center – NECA/IBEW Team
Storage – from the garage-sized unites where you keep your extra stuff, to big businesses, storage is a must. Think about it – furniture stores have only a small percentage of their tables and chairs, couches and bedroom sets on display. They must have huge warehouses to store the bulk of their product. Part of buying a car is walking the lot. Dealerships must have enormous lots to display the hundreds of cars they are selling at any given time.
But what about businesses whose day-to-day operations require storing mass amounts of digital data? Now think about this: every time you swipe your credit card, data is transmitted and stored. Every time you make a mortgage payment to your bank, data is transmitted and stored. But where is all this data stored? Where does it live? Honestly, because of security concerns, owners aren’t anxious to even tell you where. But our ETV cameras were allowed a speak peak of one such center that is about to go online in the Midwest, with the help of the NECA-IBEW team.
We live in an information age, an age that is defined by the internet. Since its creation, the World Wide Web has changed forever the way we share, and as a result, store information. Virtually everything you do is virtual, and is stored in data centers.
The best way to think of data centers is like a hotel. Companies rent individual spaces, or rooms, and companies depend on their rooms being accessible 24-7.
Jason Bell, Project Manager, Holder Construction
“A lot of the tenants and clients could be large financial, insurance, internet companies, so it’s extremely important, even a few minutes of down time for these kinds of clients could be millions of dollars. So it’s extremely important that the electrical and mechanical systems never fail and stay up and running at all times.”
With data center work, there is no margin for error. It is the type of work that precious few in the electrical industry have the skill set to do. Enter Gibson Electric and the career electrical construction professionals of IBEW Local 134.
Gavin Kalley, Senior Manager, Holder Construction
“When we do these types of projects, specifically in these types of markets, we want to get the best manpower available, and obviously the NECA-certified people and Gibson Electric was able to provide the necessary manpower that was well-trained and able to comprehend the complexity of this type of project.”
Data centers in general are incredibly complex, and incredibly expensive, especially if they go off line. The adage “time is money” has never been more true than with a project like this. To ensure its success, Gibson and the men and women of Local 134 worked side by side with the owner. It was a team effort from day one.
Daniel Fitzgibbons, President, CEO, Gibson Electric
“The team approach is all the major players on the project working together with the same goal intended. If a problem arises, it’s not just your problem. You all work together through it to get through it. You bring it up in meetings and try to make everybody’s jobs a lot easier, not just worry about yourself.”
Gavin Kalley, Senior Manager, Holder Construction
“When we went out to contract with an electrical contractor on this project, we were looking at the total package. We were looking at the best value. Who could help with t eh coordination and the design assistance, who could help with the budgeting, who could help push the schedule, who could manage the manpower, all those types of things to bring value to the client and Holder Construction. Gibson was able to prove to us through an interview process that they were the best contractor for the project.”
Daniel Fitzgibbons, President, CEO, Gibson Electric
“Electricians are usually the first ones in and the last ones out, so I think it applies in most cases, but I think that the overall industry has to be ready for it, has to accept it. Especially engineering firms that do the engineering drawings themselves, typically. A team approach really for all the parties involved.”
High-end, high-tech electrical work is the calling card of IBEW Local 134, but on this particular project, there was more than the normal amount of old-fashioned down and dirty work, as well.
Jason Bell, Project Manager, Holder Construction
“The project drawings were probably 70 or 80 percent complete at the start when we broke ground, and that’s what Gibson really brought to the table is actually finishing and completing the design for the design team. They were in the ground early, digging things while the drawings were only 70 percent complete, and finishing the design simultaneously. So that was probably one of the bigger challenges. They key to getting the data center going is really getting that deep underground. We have miles and miles of electrical pipe that are underground, and it’s 8 feet deep. And with a building like this you have a whole lot that has to happen with putting the banks in and pouring the concrete and the backfill in the beginning, to start to bring in any equipment you have to get that all done. We also had to roof the roof to get it watertight before bringing in anything like the switch gear or any of the other systems.”
For security reasons, we are limited as to what we can show you. We can say that Gibson Electric and IBEW Local 134 excavated more than 32,000 cubic yards of dirt. They installed more than 949,000 feet of conduit, and pulled more than 1,726,000 feet of wire.
Daniel Fitzgibbons, President, CEO, Gibson Electric
“To walk into this building, and to see all the Gibson yellow hardhats as far as you can see, in all the directions, you realize the magnitude of this project. And that was the early stages of the project, for everything to be covered up and backfilled and concrete poured, and for all these systems to come in, it was amazing.”
More than 5,000 cubic yards of concrete would classify as amazing. And once the underground was done, they moved aboveground, where they got some help from Building Information Modeling, or BIM technology.
Gavin Kalley, Senior Manager, Holder Construction
“We did some level of BIM coordination, yes, especially the aboveground work with a lot of the e\mechanical and electrical coordination. The electrical work we did quite a bit of 3-D modeling as well.”
In the end, the NECA-IBEW team’s ability to handle the frenetic pace of job was a feather in the cap of the GC.
Gavin Kalley, Senior Manager, Holder Construction
“We didn’t have time on this project to re-do things or struggle with quality issues. We needed to get into the job, get it built, and get out quickly in order to meet our clients’ demands. We felt that with the union labor provided, we would have the biggest chance to be successful.”
It was a job NECA and the IBEW can be proud of, as well.
“It’s the talk of the town, this project, and we’re very proud of it. We built this project like we’re planning to go right into the next phase after this.”
Dave Gelinas, IBEW Local 461
“This has been the project of a lifetime. I’ve never seen anything like this before, just the sheer magnitude, the complexity of the systems, and I probably never will again. It’s just been an honor to be a part of something this large.”
Hats off to Gibson Electric and IBEW Local 134. You guys did a great job.