Lineworkers Jordan Bradshaw, Oscar Meeks, and Davis Wynne
In our growing community, it is Electric Overhead Construction that develops and builds the electric transmission and distribution infrastructure to accommodate expansion, energize growth, and maintain structures for electric reliability. With 1,236 miles of overhead distribution and 80 miles of transmission wire and counting, Electric OH Construction crews pivot between new projects, maintenance, and repairs with ease and versatility.
Electric OH Crew Leader David Bunch stands on the side of Black Jack-Simpson Road, at the Mobley’s Bridge Road intersection, and looks up. Linemen in buckets above him lay insulating blankets along distribution lines.
Across the street from David, Oscar Meeks, Lineworker Second Class, looks up at the wiring at the top of wooden poles.
He and the rest of the Electric OH Crew are bringing wires down temporarily so the pole can be replaced. It’s the last pole to be replaced for Phase I of the Point of Delivery 230 South to Simpson 115kV Transmission Loop project.
Oscar intently looks at the wires the crew is tasked to bring down while he stands in the bucket, and then he slowly brings the bucket up and begins to lay bright orange insulating blankets along the wires.
Oscar is working with Jordan Bradshaw, Lineworker Second Class. They are up in two separate buckets, close enough to work on the same area of the wire for the same purpose. They discuss the task back and forth in the air. Between the two, it’s a seamless workflow.
Once traffic control contractors arrive and block off the intersection, the real work begins. They work at a steady pace in tandem, because to work safely on electric lines high in the sky, there must be attention to detail and teamwork.
“We take it slow and easy,” David said. “It’ll be the contractors who are putting in the replacement poles, and we’ll be the ones to transfer it over.”
Phase I of the Point of Delivery 230 South to Simpson 115kV Transmission Loop project began in 2016 with board budget approval and easement acquisitions. Once the contractors install the new poles and wires, a GUC crew finishes the service transfers, phase I will be complete.
Phase II will begin in the 2026-27 fiscal year completing the transmission loop feed to the Simpson substation.
David credits three-phase work OH Electric completed on Mobley’s Bridge Road with keeping the outage at a minimum when a pole broke along NC 33 back in December.
“If we hadn’t done that job, more people would have been without power that night,” David said.
“It improves reliability and minimizes outages. We want to have the most reliable electric service there is. We can do that with loop feeds.”
Being an OH Lineman takes a special skill set that not everyone possesses. Jeffery Williams, Overhead Construction/Maintenance Supervisor, worked his way up from working on a chip truck in the Tree Trimming section to the trouble truck, before his current role leading Overhead Construction.
“It takes a lot to be a lineman,” he said “You can’t be scared of heights or electricity. I’ve worked with guys who are not good with heights but fine with electricity. I’ve worked with guys who are ok with heights but not good at working with electricity. You can’t be scared of electricity, but you do have to respect it.”
With that healthy respect, training is a cornerstone in building a safe, effective, and efficient Electrical OH Construction crew.
“To train these guys, you have to take it slow,” David said with his eyes on Oscar and Jordan. “Training is important because this work is dangerous.”
David knows who has the skills to do different tasks on jobs, and while one lineworker may be advanced, he understands that others may need more time to learn. As a leader, David said the best way to build a crew is to give them the confidence they need to expand their knowledge base.
“If a mistake is made, you don’t want to break somebody down all the time, you do have to acknowledge the problem, and you also want to boost their confidence to keep them going,” David said.
In his supervisory role, Jeffery spends much of his time solving problems and distributing resources across the expansive electrical system. From navigating trouble truck crews to construction crews, he is constantly moving pieces on the chessboard of operations to ensure everything is covered.
Jeffery thrives on problem solving, which is beneficial considering the multiple OH construction projects simultaneously occurring, including the work that David’s crew just completed.
It takes an incredible amount of coordination of the entire department, but for construction’s part, Jeffery and Doug Boone, Engineer II, work closely together with the crew leaders to organize projects to meet timelines.
“It can be stressful and very rewarding,” Doug said. “I’ve learned valuable lessons and have met a lot of new people. It’s a good experience.”
Not only are there large initiatives, like Phase I of the Simpson transmission loop project, but they also pulled wire, reconducting areas along Tucker Road, Ivy Road, and Mobleys Bridge Road, which was a project that spanned 4.9 miles of new three-phase spans that took about 12 months to complete.
Electric OH Construction crews also replace rotten poles, which can take three to four hours or an entire day depending on the structure and circumstance.
Removing the rotten poles and old transformers and replacing them with new ones takes a high level of synchronization, teamwork, and competence on the part of the crews.
Electric OH Crew Leader Mike Ashley’s team works without hesitation at each step of a pole replacement along David Nobles Road in Stokes. From detaching the lines to bringing down the transformers, Lineworker Third Class Tyler Bradshaw and Lineworker Second Class Hunter Forrest go through the process with clear intention and familiarity. Meanwhile, on the ground Mike and Lineworker First Class Richard Gould work the line truck removing the old pole and installing the new one.
Electric OH Construction will also be hardening Circuit 18, installing steel poles along MLK Highway by the new NC Division of Motor Vehicles’ building and fairgrounds.
While these large-scale construction projects are happening or anticipated, Electric OH continues to work on maintenance work, replacing streetlights, new customer installs and helping in other areas when they are needed.
They also are included in the workforce for mutual aid trips to restore power to communities who need help after storms and catastrophic events.
“It can be tough to manage their regular workload and doing these additional projects,” Doug said. “I don’t lose sleep about the quality of their work. I know they will get the work done right.”
