Case Study: Volunteer Energy Cooperative achieves faster, more accurate underground conduit layout with Trimble MEP

Midwestern Electrical Contractor Leverages BIM for Underground Connections

Volunteer Energy Cooperative faced a last‑minute redesign and reroute of nearly 200,000 feet of underground embedded conduit on a large pipe‑mill project, a task made difficult by deep embeds, site congestion and long layout spans that ruled out traditional string‑and‑tape methods. To meet this challenge they partnered with Trimble MEP and its Trimble MEP layout solution, integrating the tool into their BIM workflow to transfer accurate 3D geometry to the field.

By redesigning the system in Revit MEP and exporting conduit points to the Trimble MEP layout software, crews could paint excavation ditches and spot conduits rapidly, laying out roughly 80–90 points per day (about 2,500 points to date). Trimble MEP’s solution reduced crew size to one person, eliminated tedious manual layout, kept areas open for other trades, and helped achieve about 90% completion of the Pipe Mill area—results that Trimble MEP’s system continues to deliver on subsequent projects.

Volunteer Energy Cooperative

Adam S. Davis

Systems Coordinator