Upgrading 1,680 miles of the electrical grid is a significant endeavor in the best of times. Throw in a pandemic, and it’s easy to imagine how the whole thing could get off track.

But that’s not what happened with a recent project.

Hoosier Energy takes a proactive approach toward grid reliability. This can be seen in power pole improvements made — stretching from Bloomington to Worthington to Sullivan. The project focused on pole strength through the use of steel structures that have been engineered to be strong enough to hold steady no matter what might stress them.

Because it’s easy for bad weather or a vehicle collision to take down a pole, steel poles were added. 

“One pole falls and it pulls on the wire and it then will pull down the next pole because of the wire,” explains Hoosier Energy Manager of Power System Design Brett Stephens. “And it pulls down the next pole and the next pole and the next pole.”

To stop the chain reaction, Hoosier Energy strategically places poles that are designed to withstand that force called dead-ends.

“Our crews get the job done no matter what they’re thrown,” said Hoosier Energy’s Senior Project Manager Kyle Eslinger. “It was a great collaboration across the organization.”