Coastal Installation Conduit and Wiring

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Revous

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Location
NJ
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Professional Electrical Engineer
I have a project where we are pretty close to the shoreline, similar to Long Island or some parts of NY. There is an open parking garage on the first floor and the flood plain is 6' above grade. They are planning to install (4) level 3 car chargers and a few lighting fixtures and any other device we may need down there.

None of the conduits is expected to be within the flood plain but it's good practice to take into account the corrosive nature of seawater. Based on this I have two questions about wiring and conduit recommendations:

  1. It seems like PVC or Stainless Steel EMT might be a good choice for the exposed conduit. Maybe SS EMT in the parking lot where damage is more likely and PVC for any exterior façade installation.
  2. In terms of wiring there doesn't seem to be much clear direction other than using THWN or XHHW. Is there another wiring insulation that might be better suited to seaside installations?
 
1. Are ss fittings available? Otherwise no sense in using ss emt. Use all ss hardware, 316 is better than 304
2. XHHW-2 is a far better insulation than THWN. THWN insulation is very thin and easily damaged

For conduit routing keep high, put j boxes at ceiling so wiring can be pulled back when replacing flooded equipment
 
SSDriver said:
Yes they are, but they are really expensive.
Click to expand...
Is it just the fittings that are expensive or is the SS conduit itself also very expensive?

Thank you for all the responses this sheds some light on the issues.
 
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