A little job from last week.

[220/221]

OK. I thought about it some more and the rod couplings are a good 4" up into the new concrete and I think that eliminates them as a weak point.

I will still epoxy the rebar next time but I'm not going to lose any sleep over this one.

 

[massfd]

Looks good to me, no diffrent than the brake away bases you see on highway poles. A 1 foot wide by 1 1/2 foot high aluminum box bolted to the anchors in the concrete with the pole bolted on top.

You know the ones, always missing the access cover and large conductors hanging out of them.

Your fix should hold up fine

 

[MarkyMarkNC]

Looks good to me. If I recall correctly, concrete bases are for the compression load, while the metal bolts are for the shear load. The rod couplings are an added weak link, but still probably in less of a shear load than where the pole attaches to the bolts at the top of the base - so not the weakest link.

I just used the emt inside the pvc trick this morning. I appreciate the tip. I'd never seen that before.

 

[cowboyjwc]

OK. I thought about it some more and the rod couplings are a good 4" up into the new concrete and I think that eliminates them as a weak point.

I will still epoxy the rebar next time but I'm not going to lose any sleep over this one.

To tell you the truth light pole bases, as a rule, are one of the most over engineered things we see. I don't know if the rod will rust all the way up, but it could. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either.

I would go along with the 6-8" for the rebar the be drilled in, but don't cheat yourself, if you have a 12" bit I would go as deep as I could.

I was just passing on my years of experiance.

 

[bradleyelectric]

Forgive the dumb question. How do you bend the rebar into the appropriate size circle?

They sell it prebent

 

[Fulthrotl]

Well crap. The bottom of my cages always sit in the soil. Do you think it's possible for the rebar to rust out all the way up into the concrete?

well, there is the arizona exception. for it to rust, you've gotta have moisture,
and that means that in AZ, unless you spit on it, you're fine.

what i've seen happen is that the moisture wicks up the rebar, by capillary
action. but that isn't the problem. then, the rebar rusts. but that isn't the
problem either. when the rebar rusts, it doubles in size, and breaks the concrete.

that's the problem. dock pilings are notorious for it.

 

[quogueelectric]

20' light poles in a water retention/park area. They installed them almost flush with grade and after a few years the pole base rusted and the poles fell over.

I used rod couplings and 1" x 36" threaded rod to extend the anchor bolts and built a little rebar cage around it. I rerouted the PVC to a masonry box and secured it thru the sonotube.

I used the "emt inside the pvc" trick to protect the wires from the sawsall.

I hope it worked. I will be setting the poles Friday.

There is also the mason line as a saw to cut the pvc so it doesnt hurt the wires trick.