Underground Conduit Run.

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I have to run a conduit under ground across a driveway - or is it a road? That is the [one] of the questions.
There are 16 car-ports on the right, and 16 on the left. It's apartment parking. The garbage bins are at the far end of the driveway. Today, a huge garbage truck rolled in to empty the bins.
Question:- do I go 24 inches deep, or 36 inches deep, and can I reduce the depth of the conduit by 6 inches with each 2 inch covering of concrete? The inspector is a pill.
 

rlundsrud

Senior Member
Location
chicago, il, USA
underground pipe

underground pipe

I would shoot a horizontal bore at 36" and pull back pcv pipe with rigid 90?s at the ends. This is a significant savings when compared to spoil removal, backfill, compaction issues and finally asphalt or concrete covering when trenching. It typically costs around 10-15 dollars per foot (depending on where you are) so it really is a cost effective means of working under an existing roadway. I hope that helps.

Bob
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
You can never be too careful with garbage trucks! How are you going to bring the wires back up? Between the carports?
Make sure that it is well protected from stray traffic too.
 
Underground Conduit Run.

The job is to replace around ~ 160ft. of conduit, and 6 HID, and circuit wiring, that feeds 8 HID [photocell controlled] lights under one side of a ground-level apartment-block parking area, following a fire under the (open-air, and detached) parking lot. The lot is not situated under any sort of building, or structure.

Whilst working on the project - (note:- the estimators sized-up the job) - I noticed that the existing conduit run between the R/H, and L/H. parking-lot areas had been bridged by a run of 1/2 inch PVC down both the right, and left walls at the entrance of the parking-lot driveway, and on the L/H side, the 1/2 inch PVC conduit transitioned , via a plastic s/g junction-box, into non-metallic seal-tight, which then dove into a badly topped black-top trench, and disappeared underground in the finished trench: (By the way, when the conduit re-appears the other side of the driveway, it comes up in rigid PVC).

I work for a very large, almost global corporate entity, whose name I can't reveal right now, and this [minute] job, is for a massive apartment management entity.

So, there is a lot of buddy, buddy stuff going on, and a lot of patting on the [assured] backs of the executives on the golf course -- that the job is going to be [done].

The management company insists on pulling a permit.

When the inspector gets a load of this he is going to write it up to the hilt - unless he's on the "take", that is. But this inspector is something else! He's an Elliot Ness; and that's good!

Here's the deal:-

When the shinola hits the fan, I want to be up-wind.

Although, we are a multybillion dollar entity, you wouldn't believe the fuss that goes on if one of these "armchair" bids goes underwater. I feel it is the ego, or arrogance maybe, of the sales department denizens. They refuse to take responsibility for jobs "going under", and always use the "multi-finger-pointing method", as a resolution to any outcome that doesn't garner the mandated 40% profit margin required on every job. It's simply -- unconscionable.

In order to stay afloat, and have half a chance to refute incrimination, as outlined in "business as usual" stated above: What is the minimum depth of running a conduit across the driveway. Forget boring, and pulling. What is the minimum depth? It is a 120 volt circuit.
 
Underground Conduit Run.

Thanks Rlund:- Professional info. (I used to work for guys like you. Top Gun!)

Gold: That part is already existing, the matter of how one brings up the wire out of the ground. They used sched. 40 PVC.

I was taught to bring up from grade with rigid, with a minimum of a twelve inch horizontal underground lateral, but it's hard to pinpoint in the code. I'm in California - earthquake central. Working on schools, and hospital installations, these may be local, or even arbitrary stipulations, that I have been exposed to.

To answer your question though:-
On the R/H side of the parking lot the [existing] conduit comes out of the ground in non-metalic flexible conduit. On the left hand side of the carport, it comes out of the ground in sched. 40 PVC; The it goes up the cinder brick wall to 8ft. 6ins., all in sched. 40 PVC.
 
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