North Shore / Mecca, CA — Westcon Construction Services is constructing new breaker foundations at IID’s North Shore Substation, part of the utility’s ongoing work to reinforce service for Salton Sea-adjacent communities. Recent local reporting shows why these investments matter: just last week, a North Shore outage affected more than 1,100 IID customers—an example of how environmental stressors and equipment age can challenge reliability. Upgrading foundations beneath critical equipment is one of the quiet ways IID pushes resilience forward. (KESQ)
Westcon’s scope includes grading, excavation/backfill, precision rebar placement, conduit coordination, anchor bolt templates, and monolithic placements designed to meet IID’s structural criteria. Each pour includes slump/air/temperature monitoring and cylinder testing, with post-cure elevation checks to ensure bus and interface alignments. Safety controls in energized yards (LMRA, spotter protocols, and IID access approvals) govern daily operations.
These improvements arrive within a broader rhythm of IID communications around grid hardening and storm recovery—context residents see in headlines and board briefings. Our role is to convert that strategy into durable concrete assets that hold alignment, resist settlement, and support equipment through desert temperature swings and monsoon seasons. The work may be invisible to most, but its impact is tangible every time the lights stay on. (Calexico Chronicle)
