Data Center/Mission Critical
Utility construction and construction services tailored to meet the challenges of today’s most demanding projects.
Built for uptime,
from the ground down
Every data center runs on what is buried beneath it: medium-voltage feeders, fiber pathways, water, process cooling water, fire loops, site lighting, site security, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, counterpoise, and countless other utilities that are critical to the site’s operations. GEI has built a history of installing the infrastructure the way a mission-critical owner expects it, redundant, documented, on schedule, without damage to the existing infrastructure and with the highest regard for the safety of everyone and everything involved.
GEI self-performs underground utility construction, hydro excavation, directional drilling, fiber splicing, utility locating, ground penetrating radar, concrete wall scanning and construction staking/layout/as-built with our own crews and cutting-edge equipment. Hyperscale owners, EPC firms and electrical, mechanical and many other contractors trust GEI on campuses where the schedule is fixed and the tolerance for error is zero.
What we self-perform
Underground scope for critical campuses
Medium-voltage and telecom duct banks
Concrete-encased duct banks are the arteries of a data center. We build them to the drawings and to the redundancy the design intends.
- MV/HV feeder duct banks, electrical yard conduit and manhole systems
- Fiber and communications duct banks, telecom handholes and CV vaults
- Road crossings, tie-ins and separation between A and B pathways
- Rebar, concrete encasement, backfill and compaction to specification
- Mandrel, pull-string and as-built documentation on every run
Fiber trench trough and outside plant
Fiber is how a data center reaches the world. We install the trough, the pathway and the glass, then splice and test it ourselves.
- Fiber trench trough systems with crossings and campus tie-ins
- Long-haul and campus backbone fiber, ADSS and underground OSP
- In-house fiber splicing, OTDR testing and documentation
- Aerial make-ready and pole line work where the route leaves the fence
Wet utilities and yard piping
Cooling and fire protection depend on buried pipe that is installed once and never touched again.
- Process cooling water (PCW) supply and return piping
- Underground plumbing, storm and sanitary sewer
- Fire water loops, hydrants and hydrostatic testing
- Trench safety, dewatering and engineered protective systems for excavations deeper than 60 inches
Hydro excavation
On a live campus, digging blind is not an option. Vacuum excavation exposes what is already in the ground without the risk of a bucket or a backhoe tooth.
- Daylighting and test pits around energized feeders, fiber and process piping
- Remote-hose vacuum excavation inside congested electrical yards and around equipment pads
- Potholing for duct bank crossings, pile locations and utility tie-ins
- Debris and slurry removal, cold-weather and all-weather capability
- Time-and-material hydrovac crews on call for owners, EPCs and electrical contractors
Utility locating and ground penetrating radar
Public 811 locates stop at the property line. Our True-Spot locating division maps everything past it, so the design and the crew are working from what is actually buried.
- Electromagnetic locating of power, tracer-wired gas and water, and metallic communications lines
- Ground penetrating radar (GPR) for non-metallic pipe, PVC and HDPE conduit, concrete duct banks, voids and buried structures that electromagnetic tools cannot see
- Concrete, wall and slab scanning for rebar, post-tension cables and embedded conduit before coring, cutting or anchoring
- GPS-positioned utility maps with depths, delivered as CAD and GIS files engineers can design from
- Locate, daylight, then dig: every GPR find on a critical pathway is confirmed by hydro excavation before construction starts
Concrete wall and floor scanning
Before anyone cores, saw-cuts or anchors into an existing slab or wall, we scan it. A single core drill through a post-tension tendon or an embedded feeder can take a building off schedule for weeks.
- High-frequency GPR scanning of slabs, walls, columns, beams and equipment pads
- Locates rebar spacing and cover, post-tension tendons, embedded metallic and PVC conduit, in-slab lines and voids
- Slab thickness measurement and both-face scanning where the design calls for it
- Findings marked on the surface, photographed and logged, with a written scan report on request
- Non-destructive and radiation-free, so it can run in occupied buildings, live electrical rooms and clean spaces
Horizontal directional drilling
When a duct bank or a pipeline has to cross a road, a live utility corridor or a finished yard without an open cut, we drill under it.
- Trenchless installation of power and fiber conduit, water and process lines under roads, rail, duct banks and energized utilities
- Bore planning with locating and hydro excavation at every crossing so the drill head never meets an unknown line
- Pilot bore tracking, reaming and pullback for single conduits through multi-duct bundles
- No open trench through finished paving, landscaping or active work zones, and no disruption to traffic or operations
- GEI has run HDD for utilities and carriers since the 1990s, from service drops to multi-mile fiber backbones
Construction staking, layout and as-builts
Every run on a critical site has to go exactly where the design says. Our own survey crew stakes it, checks it and records it.
- GPS and robotic total station layout of duct bank alignments, vaults, handholes, equipment pads and grades from the engineer’s model
- Control points set and maintained through every phase so each contractor is building from the same datum
- Daily redlines and field verification as the work progresses, not after it is buried
- Georeferenced as-built CAD and GIS documentation of every run, vault, depth and tie-in as actually installed
- Available with our construction or as a stand-alone service for owners, engineers and other contractors
Mass excavation and site grading
Data center pads, electrical yards and equipment foundations are built to tolerances measured in hundredths of a foot. We grade to them with machine control, not a string line.
- Mass excavation, cut and fill, building pad and electrical yard grading with GPS and laser-guided dozers, excavators and graders
- Exact finish grades and minimal tolerances on pads, duct bank trenches, vault sets and yard surfaces, verified against the design surface in real time
- Subgrade preparation, over-excavation and replacement, moisture conditioning and compaction to specification
- Structural excavation and backfill around foundations, vaults, manholes and duct banks
- Erosion and sediment control, drainage and haul management on tight, active campuses
Know before you dig, prove it after
Scanning, layout and documentation
The services around the excavation are what keep a critical site predictable. We provide them in-house so the crew that scans the ground is the same team that stakes it, builds it and documents what went in.
Ground penetrating radar
Non-destructive subsurface scanning that maps existing conduit, pipe, rebar and voids before the first bucket. Paired with electromagnetic locating and hydro excavation to confirm what the radar shows.
Construction staking and layout
GPS and robotic total station layout of duct bank alignments, vaults, handholes, equipment pads and grades from the engineer’s model, with control maintained through every phase.
As-built CAD documentation
Every run, vault, tie-in and depth captured as it is installed and delivered as georeferenced CAD and GIS as-builts, so the record matches what is in the ground.
Concrete wall and floor scanning
High-frequency GPR scanning of slabs, walls, columns and equipment pads before coring, saw-cutting or anchoring. We mark rebar, post-tension tendons, embedded conduit and voids and measure slab thickness, so no one drills into a live feeder or a tensioned cable. Learn more
Why GEI
What owners, EPCs and contractors get
Schedule certainty
Energization dates and go-live milestones do not move. We staff to the schedule, run our own equipment fleet, and keep spare capacity so a weather week does not become a slipped week.
Redundancy built in
We install A and B pathways the way the design intends, with the separation, encasement and documentation that keep a single dig from taking down both.
Safety, staffed
Daily pre-task plans, trench protective systems, competent-person oversight and a safety program that is measured every week, not once a year. EMR 0.76; no recordable injuries in 2023, 2024 or 2025.
Precision you can audit
Georeferenced takeoffs, GPS layout, mandrel and pull-string on every duct, and as-builts that match what is in the ground.
One contractor, whole scope
Grading, duct bank, hydro excavation, directional drilling, fiber splicing, aerial, locating, GPR, concrete scanning and staking are all in-house. One point of accountability from the fence to the building.
Discretion by default
We follow owner badge, security and no-photo policies without exception. What happens on your campus stays on your campus.
Measured every week
Safety by the numbers
Safety is the first word in our logo. These are the numbers behind it, from our workers’ compensation carrier and our OSHA logs.
| Year | Hours worked | Recordable injuries | Days away or restricted | TRIR | DART |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 136,495 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 2024 | 93,255 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 2023 | 68,814 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Three years | 298,564 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Experience Modification Rate | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMR (1.00 = industry average; lower is better) | 0.75 | 0.78 | 0.76 |
TRIR = recordable injuries × 200,000 ÷ hours worked; DART counts cases with days away, restricted or transferred. Figures from our signed OSHA 300A summaries and our workers’ compensation carrier’s annual EMR letters.
An EMR of 0.76 means our insurer rates our loss history about 24 percent better than the average contractor doing the same work. Every GEI crew starts the day with a pre-task plan, works under a competent person, and is measured on safety weekly, not annually. Our safety program and certifications are available to owners and general contractors on request.
The cost of a strike
One utility hit can take a campus off schedule
Who we build with
Trusted on mission-critical sites
General contractors
Electrical, mechanical and civil partners
Recent work
Mission-critical projects
- Medium and high-voltage feeder improvements with MV vaults
- Fiber and communications duct banks with telecom handholes and CV vaults
- Fiber trench trough system with road crossings and tie-ins
- Electrical yard duct systems, grounding, site lighting and site security
- Underground plumbing and process cooling water piping
- Construction staking, as-builts and on-call hydro excavation
- Same scope profile and scale as the Stillwater campus, delivered building by building for several contractors at once
- Medium-voltage duct banks, substation cable vaults and campus utility tie-ins for power and water
- Communications manholes, fiber conduit and entrance underground
- Hydro excavation, concrete scanning and directional bores across the campus
- Site demolition, pole base removal and spoil handling
- Campus underground utility and duct bank construction
- Hydro excavation, utility locating and ground penetrating radar across the campus
- Coordination with electrical and mechanical contractors on a phased build
- Medium-voltage duct banks, Sweetwater, Texas
- Data center excavation and bores for a national carrier
- Excavation and boring for a high-density computing facility
Out of respect for our clients’ security and photo policies, we do not publish owner names or site photography from mission-critical projects. References are available on request.
Planning a critical build?
Send us the drawings or a scope narrative and an estimator will respond within one business day. Call (918) 447-3350 or use the form.