Estimating conduit install question

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PCEC

Member
Location
B.C. Canada eh.
How many feet of 2" DB2 can a contractor lay per hour? I've got a 6600' run of conduit with pull boxes that I need to estimate install time for.

I figure contractor spends an hour pissing around ordering parts & pieces, an hour to pick up the conduit and get to site, have coffee & a wizz, talk to the hoe operator, tail board meeting... So perhaps 6 man hours burned before any pipe hits the trench at the beginning of the project. 2 guys (or girls, don't want to be sexist about this) start installing conduit working with bobcat guy sprinkling bedding sand that they spread around a bit... and they go at it all day. I'm not wondering about time to install the pull boxes, assuming they're already installed I'm thinking 10 minutes per 10' piece that will account for a bit of messing around entering pull boxes, corners, bedding, smoke breaks... In an 8 hour day they might only lay pipe for 7 hours so 420' per day so I'll call it 15 days.

The numbers seem high but this is a narrow road up a mountainside that will be unpassable during the install so one of the guys installing will be hoofing pipe up the road a fair bit. I'm thinking it will be much slower than highway side install in a shoulder.

Do these numbers have any resemblance to reality?

TIA
 
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tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
Mountian side sounds like slow digging and a lot of rocks.
I would say 200' a day tops.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
No idea tho I would have all of the conduit roughly laid out before trenching to avoid toting it by hand a mile+... that layout will take some time.

Also, 6600' of 2" conduit will take far, far longer than "an hour to pick up ... and get to site". In those 15 days, you might have a day or more of rain, which will slow things down. If the backfill uses anything other than what was pulled out, you can expect many, many yards of sand and what not that will be needed, and potentially a ton (or 20) of heavy/large rocks that need to be disposed of.

A minute a foot to dig, lay pipe, and backfill seems ambitious to me. I'd call local companies to give an estimate on the trenching and backfill, let the electricians just deal with the conduit.

If you're using something like Quazite electrical boxes, they take more than a minute to transport and set; concrete are more time consuming. Do you need to install warning/tracer tape? And are you doing the wire pulling and splices too?

Just a few things to consider that you didnt list... also, I'd get an estimate or two for directional boring.
 

cdslotz

Senior Member
How many feet of 2" DB2 can a contractor lay per hour? I've got a 6600' run of conduit with pull boxes that I need to estimate install time for.

I figure contractor spends an hour pissing around ordering parts & pieces, an hour to pick up the conduit and get to site, have coffee & a wizz, talk to the hoe operator, tail board meeting... So perhaps 6 man hours burned before any pipe hits the trench at the beginning of the project. 2 guys (or girls, don't want to be sexist about this) start installing conduit working with bobcat guy sprinkling bedding sand that they spread around a bit... and they go at it all day. I'm not wondering about time to install the pull boxes, assuming they're already installed I'm thinking 10 minutes per 10' piece that will account for a bit of messing around entering pull boxes, corners, bedding, smoke breaks... In an 8 hour day they might only lay pipe for 7 hours so 420' per day so I'll call it 15 days.

The numbers seem high but this is a narrow road up a mountainside that will be unpassable during the install so one of the guys installing will be hoofing pipe up the road a fair bit. I'm thinking it will be much slower than highway side install in a shoulder.

Do these numbers have any resemblance to reality?

TIA

Labor units are your friend
 

tw1156

Senior Member
Location
Texas
Traffic Control if on Public Road

Traffic Control if on Public Road

I'm unsure if its a public or private narrow road that won't allow for vehicles to pass, but if it is public, have you also factored in Traffic Control? Ignore this comment if you're on private land and do not care about traffic.
 

PCEC

Member
Location
B.C. Canada eh.
Private road, for a subdivision development. Excavator is on site, road is under construction, utilities being installed (water, sewer, power, tel, cable) by others. I've been told the trench will be dug by the developer. The developer asked for a budget estimate for install of conduit only for future com link between reservoir and pump station. I told him spread spectrum radio will be 1/10 the cost but he wants to know numbers to take to the city planner.
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
How deep is the trench. If it's very deep then safety becomes a factor.

You can probably get that conduit in 20 ft sticks that should be a little easier.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
If the entire 6600' was dug and ready for conduit, we'd be in and out in a day with two guys. It might take an extra day depending on how many pullboxes there are and how much was needed to tie them in.

We've done 3750' with vaults spaced every 750' in 3 hours with 2 guys. That's just the time it took to lay the conduit, with nothing else included.

Rough estimate, $13k.
 

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Unbridled

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, Fl
U/G Install

U/G Install

Consider underground directional boring. The boring contractor will pull/push the 2" conduit from point A to B, without tearing up the roadway like trenching would.
You may find this method cheaper than you think.
Also -the municipality will be fond of limited damage to the road way.
 
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