Cable buried in the ground

[fattony]

Regulation 522-06-03 just talks about cables, ducts or conduits being a sufficient depth to avoid being damaged by any reasonably foreseeable disturbance in the ground

As a general rule I have always done the following:

Lay it in a trench at least 450mm deep under a path or driveway, or 750mm deep below unpaved areas that may be dug up at some point. Run electrical route marker tape above the cable at a depth of about 150mm as an extra precaution.

Is there a regulation with these depths mentioned?

 

[RF Lighting]

Nope there is no specified depths.

It just depends on how likely the cable is to be disturbed.

I have done one on a campsite buried at 2.5m due to marquees being regularly erected with long steel stakes

 

[fattony]

I'm sure I have called Niceic on this before and they mentioned the 450mm depth, I guess this is rule of thumb?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

450mm is two spade depths.

 

[Lectrician]

DNO want 450mm for LV and 600 for HV. This is my DNO, it is likely to differ.

We do campsites, and always go 600mm as a general rule in tented/awning areas.

You are meant to avoid the pitches where possible though!







*edit* Just glanced at the 17th - 708.521.1.1 - 0.6m minimum, unless provided with additional protection - which I recall from a seminar would be something like scaffold tube, concrete tiles, poured concrete. This applies to caravan parks only.

 

[Chri5]

Did quite a bit of civil works management in the 90's

BT would spec 600mm to the top of u/g duct, with fine sand as a base, heavy sand as the duct filler, capping stone, warning tape and then back fill.

Kept to that spec ever since.

There was a case for shallow depth if you were 95% certain the field would be uncultivated or the ground was not used as a hard standing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There was a case for shallow depth if you were sure there was a 1 in 20 chance that the field would be mechanically ploughed or the ground used as a hard standing.