Romulus subdivision of Detroit, MI
A line worker was apparently electrocuted this morning while changing out a utility pole in Romulus subdivision.
Authorities are still trying to piece together exactly what happened shortly after 11 a.m. at Grover and Mary streets, near the intersection of Wick and Wayne roads.
"It was a routine pole change. They were changing out a pole. We don’t know exactly what occurred yet," Romulus Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Krause said.
Krause said the man, who lived out-of-state, worked for a contractor for DTE Energy, Asplundh Construction. The company is based in Pennsylvania.
“We were saddened to learn of a tragic accident Wednesday morning involving a lineworker employed by Asplundh Construction Company, which was performing work for DTE Energy in Romulus," DTE Energy spokeswoman Randi Berris said in an e-mailed statement. "The safety of our employees – including our supplier family – is our No. 1 priority at all times.
"We are working with Asplundh and local authorities to investigate the cause of the accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the worker's family and co-workers during this extremely difficult time."
Emergency workers were able to immediately access the man and attempted to resuscitate him.
"When we arrived, the scene was safe," Krause.
The man was pronounced dead at Beaumont Hopsital, Wayne. No one else was injured.
Krause said officials from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health administration and other agencies are on the scene investigating. Krause said the fire department sends its condolences to the worker's family, his company and the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
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A DTE Energy contractor was killed in an accident Wednesday morning while working in Romulus.
The fatality involved a contract line worker for Asplundh Construction Co. and DTE is investigating the cause of the accident.
Randi Berris, DTE manager of communications said the worker was not a DTE employee, but part of a contracted team. Berris said she is unsure if the worker’s family has been notified and no further information will be released until then.
Romulus Police Department said no information is available yet on the worker, where the accident took place, cause or other injuries.
DTE released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying:
“We were saddened to learn of a tragic accident Wednesday morning involving a line worker for one of our contractors working in Romulus. The safety of our employees – including our supplier family – is our No. 1 priority at all times. We are working with local authorities to investigate the cause of the accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the worker’s family and co-workers during this extremely difficult time.”
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Asplundh Construction has a long history providing electric construction and maintenance services throughout the U.S. Our team provides your operation with field services, project management and work management expertise. We pride ourselves on solving our customer’s greatest problems while working hand-in-hand with an open relationship.
Our electric services focus on the following areas:
- Distribution
- Transmission
- Substation
- Lighting and Signalization
- Emergency Restoration
Electric Distribution:
Our highly skilled workforce along with our project controls and job tracking differentiate us from our competitors. We complete our projects on time or ahead of schedule with rigorous quality controls, never sacrificing the safety of our employees or the public in the process.
Some of our services include:
- Overhead construction and maintenance
- Underground construction and maintenance
- Joint trench / multiple utility installation
- Transformer installation for industrial customers
- Underground cable replacement
- Line upgrades, re-conductoring and other modifications
- Concrete encased duct
- Project and construction management
- Relocations associated with roadway improvements
- Make-ready work for communication infrastructure
- Lighting installation and maintenance
- Directional boring
- Network Services
Electric Transmission:
ACC provides transmission construction and engineering services for all voltages. ACC has built and maintained transmission configurations for thousands of miles, structures and foundations, for virtually every size, locale and topography. Our transmission construction and maintenance services include:
- Line construction
- Line maintenance, rebuild, upgrade, relocation and inspection
- Hot stick construction
- Bare-hand live-line maintenance work
- Renewable Energy Interconnections
- Energized Phase Raising
- Voltage Upgrades
- Grounding resistivity testing
- Counterpoise installation
- System reliability improvements
- Fiber optic installations
- Emergency service restoration
- Project and construction management
Substation:
Asplundh Construction is one of the safest and most responsive utility services companies in the country. We provide industry-leading substation engineering, construction, relay metering and controls, and equipment system testing for everything from traditional power substations to merchant wind farm collection systems. Our Substation services include:
- Site Preparation, Foundations and Fencing
- Construction with lattice, tubular and I-beam steel
- Rebuilds and upgrades
- Transformer retrofits and retrofills
- Substation and grounding resistivity testing and commissioning
- Battery bank installation, testing and maintenance
- Concrete bank installation, testing and maintenance
- Control cable installation and terminations
- Control panel installation and wiring
- Programmable logic controller installation
- Substation maintenance
- Apparatus installation, maintenance and testing
- Switchgear maintenance, replacement and testing
- Material and equipment procurement
- Project and construction management
- Emergency storm restoration
Lighting and Signalization:
Asplundh Construction leverages it size and electrical expertise to provide roadway lighting and traffic signalization services to State Departments of Transportation, as well as municipal, cooperative and investor-owned utilities. Our services include:
- Roadway lighting construction and maintenance
- Luminaire conversions – HID/LED/Energy Efficient
- Fault locating / repair of underground and aerial services
- Street light pole painting, inspection and voltage testing
- Storm restoration
- High mast, bridge, under-deck, and shoulder lighting
- Upgrade/retrofit/pole replacement projects
- Airport and navigational
Signalization
- Design-build projects
- Traffic signal construction and maintenance
- Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
- Arterial Dynamic Message Signs (ADMS)
- Traffic Incident Management Systems (TIMS)
- Fiber optic and wireless communication systems
- Overhead sign structures, ground mount signs and guardrail
- Pedestrian walkways and ADA ramps
Emergency Restoration:
Responsiveness should not be relegated to crisis situations alone – it is critical for our profession every day. Our ability to respond at a moment’s notice – and often be on the scene long before a situation escalates – is a hallmark of our company. As we see it, mobilization of skilled teams is what we do, and working safely to preserve or restore power is what we do best. Our emergency storm planning and restoration services include:
- Rapid response 24/7 at our toll-free number 1-866-635-3422
- Crew requirements may be emailed to acc-storm@asplundh.com
- Logistics support
- Real-time GPS fleet tracking through our AVMS Live system
- Storm damage assessment and patrolling
- Pre-planning assistance
- Our safety professionals are engaged from start to finish
Gas Construction, Maintenance and Support Services:
ACC prides itself on safe, innovative, high quality and cost-effective solutions for utilities, municipal authorities and commercial entities. Our customers benefit from our problem-solving ability that helps make them successful. We provide gas services that range from any size construction project to all maintenance tasks, as well as project support services.
Construction
- Natural gas pipelines
- Gas distribution mains and services, including low pressure conversions, tapping and line stopping services, and live gas tie-ins
- Bare main replacement
- Regulator station installation
- Trenchless technologies including directional drilling, boring and small-hole vacuum excavation
Maintenance
- Proactive service replacement
- Leak detection and repair
- Gas distribution asset inspection, maintenance and repair, including valve inspections and cathodic protection systems
- Meter and regulator replacements, including appliance re-lights
- Trenchless technologies including directional drilling, boring and small-hole vacuum excavation
Process Support Services
- New construction builder/developer call centers
- Project management and work management
- Design and mapping
- Material logistics support
- Joint trench construction coordination
Engineering and Design
Asplundh Construction’s Engineering and Design team has over 250 employees providing innovative design solutions to utility customers throughout the U.S. Our experienced and knowledgeable team builds long term relationships by providing the highest quality deliverables, on-time performance and daily project updates. The following are our areas of focus and services:
- Electric and Gas Distribution
- Transmission and Substation
- Pole Replacement and Loading
- Commercial / Residential
Electric and Gas Distribution Design:
Our customers represent a broad range of groups including electric and gas utilities, governmental entities, municipalities, and industrial companies. We provide all types of support from new capital projects and programs, maintenance initiatives and new business services. The following are some of our Distribution services:
- Re-conductor of overhead lines - Gas main replacement
- Cable replacement - Pressure conversions
- Overhead and underground relocations - New gas services
- Voltage conversions - Cathodic protection
- Overhead to underground conversion - Joint trench design
- Vault and manhole asset inventory
- Pole attachment programs
- Pole replacement programs
- Heavy underground construction and maintenance
Transmission and Substation Design:
Asplundh Construction provides transmission and substation design services including line design, structures and foundation, loading, distribution substation planning and project related services. Our experienced team has the capability to provide the following value added services:
- Line routing and survey studies
- Foundation design
- Structure analysis and design
- New distribution substation planning
- Renewable energy integration
- Permitting services
- Loading analysis
- Line inspection
Poles:
Asplundh Construction has designed and managed some of the largest pole loading and replacement projects in the United States. We can manage all aspects of the programs from start to finish, helping our customers remain compliant with stringent regulatory requirements.
Some examples of our services are:
- Deteriorated pole planning
- Cellon pole planning
- Pole loading calculations
- Pole inventory and attachments
Commercial / Residential Design:
On behalf of our customers, we provide coordination, project management and design services for electric and gas commercial and residential developments and services. Our team has extensive experience in new construction and maintenance of residential developments including joint trench.
Our services include:
- New commercial development design
- Residential tract planning and design
- Electrical upgrades
- Streetlight design
- Transformer and phase loading analysis
Civil:
Asplundh Construction can provide a wide variety of civil construction services. Our experienced management team builds on its expertise to bring new low-cost solutions, best industry practices and efficient technologies to our customers.
Construction
- Site preparation, including excavation, clearing and grading
- Conduit system installations
- Manhole and vault installations
- Pier foundation construction
Lighting and Signalization
- Airport and runway lighting
- Intersection rebuilds and new construction
- High mast and low mast roadway lighting
- Fault locating and repair