Mechanical

Why rebrand to Helm? Prior to 2020, the Helm Group companies included Civil Constructors, Mechanical Inc., Conmat, Industrial Solutions and Heavy Equipment Services. The rebrand to make everything Helm is the result of leveraging our size and expertise across all of our construction and management operations. Known to the public simply as Helm, we also created subsidiary companies to be used for individual customer contracts. Helm Civil, Helm Service, Helm Mechanical, Helm Engineering, and Helm Construction Services are all companies within Helm.

Not only should Helm be your first choice to build your new building, but we can optimize your ownership and the operational costs of your buildings and campuses by providing an array of outstanding facility management and maintenance services. Helm offers services ranging from annual preventative maintenance for specific pieces of equipment to full-time turnkey on-site management of your operations and facilities. Our goal is to make your facility comfortable and cost-effective - and its operation worry-free.

At Helm, we are expert in the installation of underground utilities for sanitary and water districts, municipalities and private water system providers. Our piping system experience includes sanitary sewer, force main, water main, storm sewer, natural gas, hot water, steam, chilled water and fuel system piping. We also modernize existing utility infrastructure to meet updated quality and safety standards. We work in deep excavations requiring extensive support systems, as well as tunnels, vaults and quick cut-and-cover applications.

Helm's Building Automation & Controls group provides expert engineering, installation and support for building automations systems including HVAC, camera and card access as well as energy use monitoring. We have the diverse skills, expertise and deep familiarity with cutting edge technology necessary to leverage and integrate IoT devices across many types of systems. Simply put, we design collaborative building systems using best-in-class third party software/hardware solutions that result in customized, highly efficient management.

The concept of accuracy being of ultimate importance has come sharply into focus in the modern world of HVAC design, manufacturing and installation. Helm is committed to the earliest practical adoption of technology in every one of our divisions and HVAC/Mechanical manufacturing is no exception. With 160,000 square feet of fabrication, modularization and assembly shop space, the future of advanced HVAC manufacturing is alive and well at Helm today. While high-level Building Information Modeling (BIM) and advanced manufacturing techniques are talked about by many contracting companies, few can fully execute because it requires a dauntingly high level of capitalization and commitment to infrastructure, software and talent development.

Helm is a powerful Midwestern leader in specialized construction services. Founded in 1946, Helm has earned a gold-standard reputation as a national firm working within a diverse group of vertical market sectors. We confidently put our skills, team and experience up against anyone in the business day in and day out. Our diversified teams thrive when the complexity of the project requires one contractor to self-perform all aspects of the necessary work. Why? Because we can self-perform the majority of work on most projects.

Helm is the largest construction raw materials manufacturer in Northwest Illinois. We operate 13 quarries and gravel pits where we dredge, drill, blast, crush, screen, and wash aggregate. In addition, we operate 3 asphalt plants in the region where we produce DOT quality hot mix asphalt pavement for our internal use and for select outside customers. Because paving is a core Helm capability (it is where it all began in 1946) our insistence on mining and manufacturing our own materials should come as no surprise.

It is true that without wastewater treatment, modern society would not be possible. Such work is critically important to the health and welfare of all our employees and the communities we serve. So it is with great pride that we note wastewater treatment plant construction is one of the oldest, most time-tested and critically important of Helm's services. We know better than most that the heavy civil processes involved in wastewater treatment projects are complex, highly regulated and budget-sensitive.

Helm's Water Park and Aquatics team focuses on projects from local splash pads to the nation's largest water park destinations. Working with customers across the United States, Helm has brought our vast project experience and expertise to aquatic projects in many shapes and sizes. Whether the challenge revolves around attendance capacity, attraction variety, safety, water volume or other metrics, Helm's Waterpark experience is deep and wide. From Project Management to Engineering Design, to Value Engineering to Construction and Installation Services, Helm is capable of working alongside partner firms at any level, from end-user, to Architect/Engineer, to GC to sub.

Helm's electrical team is a powerful asset when we serve as Prime, as well as a trusted sub many other firms trust in their own Prime operations. Helm's Electrical division serves a wide swath of vertical markets from manufacturing to waste management to retail to education to healthcare to agriculture to name a few. Helm can design and build the most complicated electrical installations in the most critical applications, including HVAC controls, Motor Control Systems, Petroleum Systems, Building Control Systems and more.

Since 1938, Helm has been honing the skills required to say we are one of the most highly-qualified designers and builders of building and other structural foundations in the midwest. For us, foundation and earth retention systems are often components of our own projects: work we self-perform. We are also frequently contracted by other primes (sometimes at the insistence of the client) for our foundation expertise. At Helm, our foundation and support of excavation systems are engineered by our talented, experienced in-house engineering team alongside outside partners to provide safe, efficient systems to our clients.

Helm is one of the oldest, most well-established bridge builders in the Midwestern United States. From the simplest cast-in-place box culvert to the longest river-crossing span, we have built many of the most challenging bridge projects in the region. When it comes to precise engineering and heavy labor requirements, Helm excels. Many of our core team have been with us for decades. Our expansive company-owned fleet of cranes, barges, excavators and other equipment make us one of the largest and most reliable and efficient bridge builders in the nation.

Helm traces its history back to the wild, wooly 1880s when AC Johnston sold coal, lumber and cars. Our current company was founded as Freeport Blacktop Construction Company in 1946. Eventually, FBT became Civil Constructors. The rest is a story of decades of strategic diversification and growth, continuous improvement and innovation. Our tight-knit culture is the same as it ever was, but everything else has evolved and grown. Helm is now a sophisticated, fully integrated company with a broad range of top-shelf construction capabilities and geographic locations.

From small schools to the largest healthcare projects, Helm's Plumbing team provides value in every project we engage. Our Project Management and VDC staff as well as our field leaders provide the expertise needed while providing unparalleled solutions. Nobody knows better than Helm how critically important plumbing excellence is when an owners look back and ask if their construction project was a success. Helm provides comprehensive design, fabrication and installation of plumbing systems throughout the Midwest with the kind of accuracy and efficiency one only sees with the largest, most sophisticated contractors in the nation.