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October 11, 2024 Harlan Electric Garners 2024 NECA Project Excellence Award for Bringing Wi-Fi and Resource Kiosks to Detroit

Team navigates underground unknowns and excels in building IKE Smart City interactive kiosks

The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) awarded Harlan Electric Company (Harlan Electric) with the 2024 Project Excellence Award in the low voltage and technology category for their work building the foundations and electrical circuits of 30 IKE Smart City kiosks throughout the city of Detroit.

Interactive touch screen kiosk in city
Harlan Electric installed 30 interactive kiosks throughout downtown Detroit

Constructing the kiosks in a major urban landscape was a complex and unique endeavor to help serve Detroit’s efforts to revamp the city. The project provides public art, community content, commercial messaging, free Wi-Fi, emergency call features, and interactive wayfinding with specialized functions to display civic resources like public transportation, job listings, and safe shelters.

To get this important initiative up and running, Harlan Electric worked to solve unique logistical challenges at each site selected for installation, many of which required problem solving and alterations to the original plan.

The team was agile and innovative in their approach when unforeseen obstacles arose including discovering underground obstructions, having a lack of a nearby power source during construction, and conducting work in a heavily trafficked urban environment at the kiosk sites. Performing work in a busy city like Detroit also required working around unique schedules for prominent city venues like Comerica Park and Ford Field. and Harlan Electric maintained constant coordination with multiple stakeholders to keep the project moving forward.

When adjustments needed to be made, whether it was routing the power differently, rebuilding a stretch of conduit, creating a new power source, altering the size and shape of the kiosk foundation, or adjusting schedules to accommodate stadium concert schedules, the crew made sure to bring the client a solution.

Throughout the project the team operated with the mindset articulated by longtime Detroit resident and General Foreman Rudy Bartlett who said, “We’re dedicated to getting this job done, so we’re going to figure this out.” 

By the end of 2023, Harlan Electric had completed 30 kiosk installations over the course of the year and delivered these public resources safely without any underground utility damage and zero recordable incidents.

Underground Unknowns

An inherent difficulty of performing underground construction is not being certain of what you’ll find when you break ground; and in older cities like Detroit, records aren’t always accurate. For the kiosk installations, Harlan Electric faced this challenge 30 separate times in each location. From the conduit systems of two local utilities, natural gas piping, water systems, and fire hydrants, to fiber optic wiring and even basements that protruded under the sidewalks, there were many potential obstacles to uncover.

Knowing this potential for hidden problems, Harlan Electric performed proofing of each kiosk location to confirm where they could connect into the pre-existing power system before construction began. Each kiosk needed to receive power through the public streetlighting system, and because each location was unique, every kiosk required its own plan to connect to a power source. In instances when a nearby power source wasn’t available, Harlan Electric created a new power source altogether. A lot of the infrastructure they had access to was unsuitable to work with due to its age. In other instances, the power source was blocks away. In one instance where the conduit had collapsed, the crews repaired about 200 feet with new conduit.

We’re dedicated to getting this job done, so we’re going to figure this out.

Rudy Bartlett, General Foreman

They went above and beyond to identify these issues upfront so that they could adjust the construction plans before breaking ground. This proofing stage also helped maximize their efficiency and proactively find solutions.  Working with IKE Smart City and other stakeholders, Harlan Electric also redesigned the foundations to fit restricted spaces, finding and connecting to alternative power sources, or repairing preexisting damaged infrastructure altogether. 

Greektown Site Illustrates Challenges of Urban Construction

Installing kiosks in places intended to be seen by as many people as possible meant that much of the work took place in highly trafficked areas of the city.  In fact, it meant working in some of the busiest locations in Detroit.  

A prime example was the Hollywood Casino in Greektown. This kiosk, on the corner of two one-way streets with minimal parking, truly demonstrated what it took to construct in busy areas of the city.

In addition to being a busy venue with a large number of visitors, Harlan Electric had to coordinate with the city to obtain permission to park their vehicles, which included an excavator, and schedule ahead of time when certain areas would need to be blocked off. 

An entrance to the Detroit People Mover, the city’s overhead subway system, is also situated at the same corner. The train arrived every five to eight minutes, picking up and depositing people each time, all of whom needed to be directed around Harlan Electric’s construction using the proper signage and barricading techniques that would help redirect traffic rather than impede it. 

By coordinating with traffic control, putting up clear signs, and properly barricading the routes, Harlan Electric configured a way to shift the flow of traffic, allowing pedestrians to reach their destinations and the project to move efficiently, all while keeping pedestrians and crews safe.

Scheduling around Pop Stars at Popular Venues

Comerica Park and Ford Field, two of Detroit’s largest venues, collectively hold more than 100,000 people. Over the course of the kiosk construction process, each venue hosted multiple large events, but Harlan Electric worked around them, allowing for their deadlines to be met and the shows to go on. 

A newly-installed kiosk outside Comerica Park, the Detroit Tigers’ baseball stadium.

The kiosk at Ford Field was one of the most challenging sites Harlan Electric encountered due to the need to complete work in between major events including Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran concerts and a WWE match. The work could not be left incomplete with barricades or other obstructions, so the team worked under meticulous scheduling to keep clear of the events. Again, proper barricading and use of snow fencing, traffic signage and direction, and the mentality of being a part of the scenery instead of an obstacle contributed to Harlan Electric’s efficient construction near some of Detroit’s busiest hubs.

With agility, innovation, and dedication, the crews were able to construct and electrify the kiosks, bringing these helpful public systems to Detroit residents and tourists. Adding the kiosks to downtown Detroit was another step in the Motor City’s transformation, bringing revenue to the city and resources to its communities.

“They [IKE Smart City] said, ‘Here’s a novel project, make it work’” said Harlan Electric Project Manager Max Dade, “And we did.”

Project Details