Power and fiber decide where a data hall gets built. Everything else can be bought, poured or erected. In Natrona County there are real fiber projects and real generation nearby, so the question for an owner is practical: can the site get enough of both, and how fast? We build the shell, site and support systems that follow the answer.
The county has put public money behind the network. The state business council approved $617,483 in grant funding for roughly 30,000 linear feet of fiber optic cable in and around the airport business park at 8500 Airport Parkway. West of Casper, the Town of Mills has franchise agreements with several telecom providers to build and operate fiber networks. Glenrock, down the interstate, hosts a large coal-fired generating station. We do not promise any owner capacity from those assets. We tell you how to ask for it and what each answer costs.
A data center is a building for machines, and the people who service them. We plan for secure entry, tight tolerance floors and a long commissioning period, and we do it under the same permit to work we use in a refinery.
What is and is not here
The airport is a Foreign Trade Zone operator with a 492 acre magnet site, and a business park of more than 35 businesses next to the runways. Land is available, the interstate is close and weather is cold enough to help with cooling for much of the year. Cold air is not a design basis by itself. Dry summer afternoons and dust still stress cooling equipment, and we design for the worst day, not the average one.
What a developer needs to confirm is capacity: utility service, redundancy, fiber routes and water. These come from outside the construction contract. We help gather the information and set up the meetings, then we price the work required to connect.
The building and the site
A typical build includes a controlled-access shell, a raised or slab-on-grade data hall, mechanical and electrical rooms, generator pads, fuel storage, a fenced yard and a security gate. We build in structural steel (a close cousin of the pre-engineered metal building) or a tilt-wall building, and the choice depends on schedule and cost. Our data center construction work covers the full package, and data center support buildings handle the smaller structures around it.
Underground work is large. Medium-voltage duct banks, conduit sleeves, manholes and grounding systems all go in before the slab. Mistakes there are expensive to correct. See electrical duct bank and underground work for how we sequence them.
Managed site and concrete work
We schedule and supervise earthwork, utilities, concrete and many steel setting tasks. Those are the tasks with the highest safety exposure and the highest schedule leverage. Managing them closely lets us control sequence and quality and keeps trades from stacking in the same trench.
Generator and switchgear pads are poured with embedded conduit and tight tolerances. Equipment arrives on a delivery date set months earlier, and a missed pad means a missed crane day. We treat pads like process work and check them against vendor drawings before concrete leaves the truck.
Codes, permits and utility agreements
The City of Casper lists the 2024 International Codes with local amendments, and it expects a life-safety plan and engineered drawings with commercial permits. Wyoming leaves enforcement to local offices, so the parcel's jurisdiction matters. The state fire marshal names the 2026 National Electrical Code for electrical work, though other sources still cite 2023, so we confirm the edition with the department before design freezes.
Utility interconnection is its own process with its own timeline. We keep the construction schedule independent of it where we can and flag where the two meet.
Long lead items and commissioning
Switchgear, transformers, generators and chillers set the schedule. Delivery can run many months, and the building waits on them. We prepare procurement packages at preconstruction and release orders as soon as the owner approves, using our long-lead procurement management practice.
Commissioning takes time and testing, and it comes last. Load banks, failover tests and fire alarm tests all need a clean, finished space and a clear site. We build the test windows into the schedule so they are not squeezed out when earlier work slips.
Water, noise and the neighbors
Cooling is the quiet question. Air-cooled plants use little water but more power. Evaporative plants save power and use water, and a dry county has to ask whether it can supply it. We help owners price both paths, including the water main, storage tank and treatment that an evaporative design would require. The decision belongs to the owner and the utility, and we supply the construction numbers.
Generators are loud and tested often. A test day at a fence line can draw complaints from a neighbor. We plan setbacks, berms and acoustic walls early, and we check zoning noise limits with the planning office before the site plan is final. Dust and cold-weather startup problems are better solved on paper than in the field.
Safety on a high-voltage site
Medium-voltage work, large lifts and trenching in one place call for a firm plan. Energized work follows a written procedure. Lifts follow a lift plan with a named signal person. Every worker completes a safety orientation, and every task starts with a permit.
We keep the site clean and organized because messy sites hide hazards. Laydown areas are marked, material is stacked and cable reels are tied down.
Bring us the load and the parcel
Send the megawatt target, the parcel and your commissioning date. We will review site access, utility distance and structure options. Developers looking at the airport business park or at Mills can start there.
Common Questions
Is Casper a realistic place for a data center?
It can be, if power and fiber line up. The county has funded fiber near the airport business park and the Town of Mills has telecom franchise agreements for fiber networks. Power capacity must be confirmed with the serving utility. We help you ask the right questions and price the work.
How long does a data center shell take?
Shell construction is the short part. Utility service, switchgear and generators set the real schedule. We give you a dated plan that shows the critical path through equipment deliveries, not only through our own work.
Which building type works best for the shell?
Structural steel or tilt-wall, depending on span, security and schedule. Steel erects fast and accommodates changes. Tilt-wall offers mass and a durable skin. We price both and let the numbers speak.
Do you handle security and fencing?
Yes. Perimeter fence, vehicle barriers, gates, lighting and conduit for access control are part of the site package. See our work on fencing and security integration for how we coordinate with the security integrator.
How does the power plant at Glenrock affect a project?
It shows there is generation in the region. It does not guarantee service to your site. Capacity, redundancy and interconnection come from the serving utility, so ask early and in writing. Our familiarity with the utilities and power sector helps us read those answers.