Davey’s Land Clearing Crews Help Hoosier Energy Expand Transmission System

Hoosier Energy

Davey crews cleared 6.25 miles of densely forested land in Indiana, helping Hoosier Energy connect two substations with a newly constructed transmission line.

The Challenge

Hoosier Energy has delivered reliable electric service to customers across Indiana and Illinois since 1949. Today, the generation and transmission cooperative provides power to more than 700,000 residents and businesses through 17 member cooperatives across a 15,000-square-mile region.

To continue improving reliability and system resiliency, Hoosier Energy initiated a project to connect two substations near Martinsville, IN, creating an additional pathway for power delivery to reduce outage exposure. Before construction could begin, the cooperative needed a partner capable of clearing dense forest, steep terrain, and limited-access areas safely, efficiently, and under a tight construction schedule.

The Solution

Beginning in February 2025, Davey’s 8-person land clearing team mobilized near Martinsville to clear a 6.25-mile, 100-foot-wide right-of-way and more than 35 separate access paths required for construction entry.

The crew used specialized mechanical equipment, including a tracked feller-buncher, multiple excavator mulchers, tracked mulchers, and a Sennebogen material handler. Davey leveraged local crews from Hoosier’s corrective maintenance vegetation program to perform precision manual clearing where terrain conditions prevented machinery access, completing the work safely on foot. 

In total, Davey had cleared approximately 80 acres of land and removed an estimated 15,000 trees, enabling safe mobilization for transmission line construction while working in close coordination with Hoosier Energy’s vegetation management team to communicate with property owners and minimize community impact.

The Results

By July 2025, the right-of-way was fully cleared, keeping the project timeline on track for construction mobilization. Most importantly, Davey crews totaled over 9,000 man-hours with zero safety incidents and property damage claims. With the corridor open and access routes established, Hoosier Energy could move forward with building the new 69kV transmission line to increase system capacity and load flexibility, enhance reliability for Hoosier Energy members, and provide alternate pathways to reduce outage duration.

This expansion supports Hoosier Energy’s ongoing commitment to delivering safe, dependable electricity across the region and reflects Davey’s mission to help utilities build resilient infrastructure to meet future demand.

Davey cleared approximately 80 acres of land and removed an estimated 15,000 trees in total for Hoosier Energy.

Davey’s land clearing team cleared a 6.25-mile, 100-foot-wide right-of-way and more than 35 separate access paths required for construction entry.

Hoosier Energy initiated a project to connect two substations, creating an additional pathway for power delivery to reduce outage exposure.

The cooperative needed to clear dense forest, steep terrain, and limited-access areas safely, efficiently, and under a tight construction schedule.

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