In November of 2017, Mayor Richard Berry announced the the launch of the Evaluation and Implementation of Energy Efficiency and Reduced Maintenance on City-Owned and Maintained Street Lighting project. The City contracted lighting experts, Citelum and created “EnvisionABQ,” a plan to relight Albuquerque. Citelum teamed up with B&D Industries, Inc. to perform the city-wide LED installations to make Albuquerque a little brighter.
The conversion was a multi-phased project that included a field assessment and inventory plan of poles and fixtures by location throughout the City. In turn, Citelum developed a lighting conversion implementation plan along with a GIS software program to manage construction duration by location or by phasing.
B&D’s Division Manager, Russell Herring, put together a top-notch team to tackle this effort. Russell worked closely with Alibaba Duran on the estimate to Citelum, requiring many hours; which is ultimately what landed the job. Richard Yardman, B&D’s designated PM for the project states his appreciation for his team. “It has been a huge company-wide effort, from the owners spearheading the acquisition of additional bucket trucks and manpower required to perform the work. The Purchasing Department has helped by purchasing new trailers to assist in efficiently moving new and old fixtures from each truck. The shop has been a tremendous help in picking up, storing, preparing, re-packing and loading fixtures for the project. The administrative staff of Division 5 have done a wonderful job working together to support the construction team and last and but certainly not least, the field personnel; an incredibly professional and dedicated team of bucket truck crews consisting each of one Journeyman Wireman with one Apprentice. They have all shown exceptional attention to detail, incredible work ethic and the ability to work well as a team.”
To date, B&D has installed 2,990 light fixtures. Citelum has informed us that the project has surpassed the half way mark and at the current rate of installation this project will be completed in 6-8 weeks. We are currently running four (4) bucket trucks, each with two (2) men crews simultaneously, with each crew installing approximately 50 lights per 10-hour days, four days a week.
B&D will continue to work together to make our city brighter and safer. Thank you to those who have helped make this project a huge success!