AWP Safety and Ward Electric: A Partnership Powering Safety and Success
In complex infrastructure work, no amount of planning can replace one thing: trust. For Ward Electric and WS Barricade — which joined the AWP Safety family in 2024 — that trust was built over a decade and became the foundation for an ambitious wildfire mitigation project in Colorado. When Ward needed a partner to help manage the logistical and safety challenges of the job, WS Barricade answered the call.
Key Takeaways
- Strong customer relationships are crucial for keep people safe on the job. For a decade, WS Barricade, an AWP Safety company, and Ward Electric have built a strong relationship that improves utility work zone safety across Colorado.
- The companies have partnered on high-stakes utility infrastructure projects, including a recent wildfire mitigation project involving an overnight blackout and simultaneous multi-site work on the interstate and along mountain roads in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
- Strong partnerships lead to more proactive planning for greater crew safety, more efficient work and on-time completion of community utility projects.
A Relationship Years in the Making
The partnership began in 2015, when WS Barricade first supported Ward Electric on utility projects across Colorado. Through consistent, reliable work, the team earned Ward Electric’s confidence and built strong field-level relationships that endured even as contracts changed.
“If we hadn’t maintained that trust, we wouldn’t have been on this job,” says Tyler Smits, area manager of AWP Safety’s Colorado operations. “These partnerships are built on consistency, quality, and personal connection.”
Delivering Under Pressure
When Ward Electric secured a wildfire mitigation contract with Xcel Energy — part of a three-year, $1.9 billion effort to strengthen Colorado’s power grid — they turned to a partner they knew could handle complex, time-sensitive work.
The Idaho Springs operation required a full overnight power shutdown, pulling wire across I-70 and complex traffic control across steep mountain terrain. WS Barricade coordinated traffic and safety operations to keep crews moving efficiently and the project on schedule.
“It was a massive coordination effort, We were running work in town, on mountain roads, and across the interstate all at once. Every move had to be perfectly planned,” says Kyle Jerome, field manager.
Read the full story in our Idaho Springs Wildfire Mitigation Case Study.
Built on People, Grounded in Safety
For WS Barricade and AWP Safety, strong partnerships are built through the everyday work of teams in the field.
“We’ve worked with Ward Electric’s crews, foremen, and superintendents for years,” Jerome says. “That personal connection makes a big difference on projects like this.”
Across AWP Safety’s North American operations, that same safety-first approach guides every project. “Customers trust us to protect their crews like we would our own families,” adds Smits. “After years of working together, Ward knows we’ll come through.”
Relationships that Scale
The success in Idaho Springs strengthened an already solid relationship and led to new opportunities, including traffic control for high-risk helicopter work setting new utility poles. In addition, Ward Electric has also expanded its wildfire mitigation work, with WS Barricade supporting more than a dozen of their active crews each day — protecting people, infrastructure, and communities.
“This work keeps towns from going dark,” Jerome says. “It’s safety and resilience in action.”
As Colorado continues to invest in wildfire mitigation and grid resilience, partnerships like this will play a critical role. “We’re helping lower the risk of devastating wildfires and long-term outages,” Jerome says. “It matters — to customers, to employees, and to the communities who rely on this infrastructure every day.”
Learn more about how WS Barricade and AWP Safety collaborate to deliver traffic control service excellence to utility, broadband and road construction customers throughout Colorado.
