Ground rod and ground wire buring?

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karl3200

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Should the top of 5/8 x 8 ground rods be driven underground or left an inch or 2 above ground?

How deep must the ground wire connecting 2 ground rods (6 ft apart) be buried?
 
See 250.53(G) mandates that ground rods have at least 8' of length in contact with the soil. So if you are using 8' rods, they will need to be driven at least to grade. There is no specification in the NEC as to how far the GEC or bonding jumper is to be buried if at all. The GEC and bonding jumper is required to be protected from damage which is open to interpretation.
 
Re: Ground rod and ground wire buring?

karl3200 said:
Should the top of 5/8 x 8 ground rods be driven underground or left an inch or 2 above ground?
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Bryan gave you the NEC answer. If this is for a service, check with your POCO, often their rules are more detailed and/or restrictive. Ours (NatGrid) requires rods be driven to 6" beneath finished grade, for instance.
 
"The upper end of the electrode shall be flush with or below ground level unless the aboveground end and the grounding electrode conductor attachment are protected against physical damage as specified in Section 250-117" - 1996 Code. Sorry only have the old book here.

Mark
 
tshea said:
:lol: :lol: :lol: I thought the topic was
ground rod and ground wire burning

burying
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Me too. I was hoping for a spectacular story of a failed neutral and 100's of amps of neutral current burning the #6 awg ground wire.
 
Karl,

The GE should be driven down to ground level, if you drive below ground make sure the connectors are direct bury rated and remember where they are because the local AHJ might wish to see the connections...physically.

On the GEC connecting the (2) GE's their is really no depth issue on that except to ensure it is not subject to physical damage....we always bury ours down 6 inches between the (2) GE's....this ensures less chance of damage.
 
Roland,

The GEC does not have to comply with Table 300.5. There was a proposal for the 2005 NEC cycle that would place burial depth requirements of the GEC. Proposal 5-154 was actually accepted however Comments 5-116 through 5-120 reversed the CMP decision and the code was not added.

There is currently no requirement for the GEC to be buried and specific depth.
 
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