Working Clearance for Plug-In Busways

[charlie b]

A client threw me a curve ball yesterday. I had planned to run plug-in busway over an assembly line in a new factory, to afford a degree in flexibility in the location of outlets for power tools, welders, and other stuff. Now they won't allow cables to be dropped from above. There is talk about running the distribution system in one or more trenches along the floor. That I can do with conduit, wire, and junction boxes, with outlets spaced along the trench. But that takes away all flexibility for future relocation of factory equipment, flexibility that the client insists is important. So I now wonder if a plug-in busway can be installed in a trench. Issues that come to mind are the ability to reach into the trench (or step in, if the trench is large enough) to install new plug-in breakers, the need for (or the absence of the need for) working clearance in front of the plug-in breakers, and the risk of water getting into the trench when the floor is being cleaned.

Article 368 does not appear to forbid this type of installation by itself, but I do not know if 110.26 might be a player. Has anyone dealt with this issue before? Any thoughts?

 

[donselectric]

what about conduit drops? i dont think i'd put bus duct in floor maybe wireway with conduit stubups..

 

[charlie b]

They don't want anything coming down from above, not even pipes for compressed air. It's an aesthetics thing.

 

[ron]

Charlie,

Is plug in busway available as water resistant? I've only used waterproof feeder busway, not plug in. In a trench, wouldn't it get wet even if one of the guys spills his coffee?