Gateway South Transmission Line

Foundation program for major transmission line

The Gateway South (GWS) transmission line extends approximately 400 miles from the Aeolus Substation in southeastern Wyoming, to the Clover Substation near Mona, Utah. The project is part of PacifiCorp’s Energy Gateway Project, an integrated resource plan providing the necessary infrastructure to deliver electricity from new resources. GWS crosses three states and twelve BLM jurisdictions; it employed close to 2,000 employees at peak, including an estimated 24 civil crews, 42 foundation/anchor crews, 4-5 wire crews, 400 steel hands, and a host of supporting staff; and it entails the erection of 1,550 structures, totaling more than 58 million pounds of steel.

Team Members

PacifiCorp

QISG

Crux Subsurface

Summit Line Construction

PAR Drilling

Crux’s Role

Crux was part of the EPC team led by Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group (QISG). The team was made up of more than 15 Quanta Services Operating Companies, five of which had dedicated foundation scopes on the project. Crux’s scope included the installation of several hundred pedestal foundations and close to 200 drilled piers, ranging in diameter from 3 to 4 feet and in depth from 12 to 48 feet. Additionally, Crux designed and installed approximately 1,800 grouted anchors, 225 helical anchors and 72 micropile foundations.

Foundations support a variety of structure types and were successfully installed in diverse access and subsurface conditions. Helicopter support was required for several sites featuring challenging terrain; individual access plans were developed for hundreds of structures located on private lands; and the project team had to navigate numerous unpredictable environmental buffers.

GWS is largely complete and expected to be in-service in late 2024. The Quanta team realized a number of critical efficiencies throughout construction and the project serves as an excellent example of the hurdles that can be overcome through integrated collaboration.