In your country, do you use pipe to run wire through very much?

[Mike Johnson]

It was in the USA so no T&E, five circuits = fifteen cables?

 

[westward10]

Must admit some of that is a work of art. There is obviously some real pride in your work taking place there.

 

[Dustydazzler]

It was in the USA so no T&E, five circuits = fifteen cables?

potentially , unless they could share one oversized cpc ... or use the conduit as a cpc but I’m not sure if that is allowed over there ...

they do have Romex cable which is very similar to our lsf twin & earth cable

 

[Megawatt]

potentially , unless they could share one oversized cpc ... or use the conduit as a cpc but I’m not sure if that is allowed over there ...

they do have Romex cable which is very similar to our lsf twin & earth cable

I’ll have to say guys and girls that their is no cables in them conduits. We pull all single stranded wire. The big pipes probably have bigger wire in them for feeders. I’ve seen 100 # 14 control wires in some of the bigger conduits. I’ve wired a lot of European equipment and a lot of times they will bring there own cables with them from across the pond and if that’s the case we use tray cable. We can’t mix analog with digital inputs and outputs in the same conduit and power feeders in there own conduit and communication cat-5 cables in there own conduit. We do not like pulling European cables in conduit because the outside diameter of the cable makes us have to run at least 3 inch conduit. Yes most of that conduit looks awesome but I’m a perfectionist on conduit and I seen some conduits that the gap between Some of them is not consistent. I’ve worked for Germans, Italy, Finland engineers, etc who all use cables. In the US on a job that big mostly we have to go by the prints who dictates what we do. On big jobs we have people that just run conduit and nothing else, people who mount all the pull cans and panels. It’s so much different over here.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I’ll have to say guys and girls that their is no cables in them conduits. We pull all single stranded wire. The big pipes probably have bigger wire in them for feeders. I’ve seen 100 # 14 control wires in some of the bigger conduits. I’ve wired a lot of European equipment and a lot of times they will bring there own cables with them from across the pond and if that’s the case we use tray cable. We can’t mix analog with digital inputs and outputs in the same conduit and power feeders in there own conduit and communication cat-5 cables in there own conduit. We do not like pulling European cables in conduit because the outside diameter of the cable makes us have to run at least 3 inch conduit. Yes most of that conduit looks awesome but I’m a perfectionist on conduit and I seen some conduits that the gap between Some of them is not consistent. I’ve worked for Germans, Italy, Finland engineers, etc who all use cables. In the US on a job that big mostly we have to go by the prints who dictates what we do. On big jobs we have people that just run conduit and nothing else, people who mount all the pull cans and panels. It’s so much different over here.

in the u.k we generally pull single cables (wires) in conduit pipes , you do get some people pull in Romex style cable in conduit but that generally more in houses.
europans do pull in round cable in their conduit but that’s more flexi plastic type conduit tubing I think...I have seen Europea conduit that doesn’t even have bends / elbows

 

[Megawatt]

in the u.k we generally pull single cables (wires) in conduit pipes , you do get some people pull in Romex style cable in conduit but that generally more in houses.
europans do pull in round cable in their conduit but that’s more flexi plastic type conduit tubing I think...I have seen Europea conduit that doesn’t even have bends / elbows

No @ Dustydazzler we generally don’t pull romex in pipe and romex is mostly used in domestic applications

 

[Dustydazzler]

No @ Dustydazzler we generally don’t pull romex in pipe and romex is mostly used in domestic applications

I didn’t say you pull Romex in pipe , I said we here in the U.K. sometimes put Romex or as we call it twin and earth cable in conduit

but generally it’s single wires...

 

[Mike Johnson]

In European Domestic installations it is single cables that are normally pulled in Flexible conduit, round cable as you have called it is generally double insulated and just clipped in place, although this is allowed but frowned upon.

 

[stevethesparks]

Cant help note the lack of pull-in boxes on some of those installations, but as said some excellent work.

 

[Dustydazzler]

In European Domestic installations it is single cables that are normally pulled in Flexible conduit, round cable as you have called it is generally double insulated and just clipped in place, although this is allowed but frowned upon.

I have seen quite a lot of wiring done in Greece in white conduit and round cable (like FP cable) run inside the conduit system...

 

[norcal]

Some of the photos there are mind boggling with all the conduit runs & how they were run & others you see some opps.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I have no doubt, but as I said it's frowned upon, then again I have seen loose wires hanging out of the walls in Spain and just finished with a screw block and wrapped in any old tape they could find handy.

 

[freddo]

Very impressive work, I especially like the photo where the bend radius increases with each pipe. Greenlee make some awesome electric conduit benders dial in your measurements and it tells you where to mark the pipe, then it forms each bend for you in turn. Never seen anything like that here except on factory production lines.

I was chatting to a USA spark last year he said on the larger sites he has done, they all had the conduit runs designed and plans supplied. You'd never get that here, the architects often struggle to work out where the accessories need to go let alone planning cable routes!

Many of the buildings in the UK are just too small and have too low ceilings to be able to install conduit like that. Done a few jobs where there wasn't even enough height to fit lighting distribution boxes above the suspended ceiling grid!

Cant help note the lack of pull-in boxes on some of those installations, but as said some excellent work.

The conduits are often much larger than what we have available here, and motorised cable pullers are common there. Don't forget their 1" conduit has a larger ID than our 1" conduit. And we certainly don't have 8" conduit here, it's hard enough finding suppliers for 32mm conduit.

I'd love to install conduit like that, but the cost of the conduit materials alone would exceed the expected electrical price for the whole job...

 

[Mike Johnson]

I think you mean the H&V and Electrical consultant an Architect would not where to start and on some of the larger project I have been on the design is all drawn up and executed, separate disciplines carry out the work, tray and conduit installers and cable pullers first and then the electricians terminate the cables.

 

[Maji236]

Here's a job I ran a few summers back. 3", 2", & 1" PVC for a new 800A underground ductbank service to a High school. The carpenters were putting in forms for concrete incasement. Yes, my guys ran the rebar for the added strength (spec from engineer).
If you look close, you'll see the engineer also had us raise it up (patio block was my idea), under the spacers, to ensure concrete got underneath.
Also notice, we used sweeping galv 90's for that turn, that way the rope won't burn through. Those bastards are HEAVY. Used regular galv 90's for other turns.

 

[pc1966]

That is some serious duct work! Still, I am surprised that the plan was to encase the lot in concrete, true it will make it tough but seems very "permanent" there.

Over here we would use SWA cable for that sort of job, probably in a runs of "twinwall" plastic duct that can be buried in soil (with sand around it, if stony soil) but in some cases just SWA direct in ground.

But 800A is a lot of current, probably that would need a few parallel runs of cable to get capacity at a sane size of cable to wrangle!

 

[Maji236]

That is some serious duct work! Still, I am surprised that the plan was to encase the lot in concrete, true it will make it tough but seems very "permanent" there.

Over here we would use SWA cable for that sort of job, probably in a runs of "twinwall" plastic duct that can be buried in soil (with sand around it, if stony soil) but in some cases just SWA direct in ground.

But 800A is a lot of current, probably that would need a few parallel runs of cable to get capacity at a sane size of cable to wrangle!

Yes, 6 - 3" conduit were for the 800A, 3ph, 480 volt service, 4 - 500 MCM (almost 1,000 mils dia) plus 4/0 (21mm) ground (earth) in each. Other conduits went elsewhere. It ran under a walkway & a driveway, which were used by garbage trucks & busses. Tried to talk them into only using the rebar under, & 15' of each side of roadway...nope. And it was schedule 80 PVC too.
From new xfmr to switchgear inside was about 700'.

 

[pc1966]

It ran under a walkway & a driveway, which were used by garbage trucks & busses.

Ah, makes sense now!

 

[Maji236]

You can't see it, but the lesser turn was due to old concrete piers unearthed (& quickly covered back). Apparently train tracks ended there & fell out of use in the 1930's. Train cars were stored here for much of the late 1800's, early 1900's.
The architect was leery of uncovering too much. Not far from here is were British forces camped out enroute to the Battle of Saratoga. The actual site was never found but a plaque stands on the road way near the entrance of the school.

 

[Mike Johnson]

From a good practice point of view the trench should have been blinded with a concrete layer or clayboard to lay the reinforcement/ducts on, this would prevent the concrete from being contaminated by stones and earth kicked up when the concrete is poured into the formwork, the stones and earth can facilitate a path for moisture and rusts the reinforcement this in turn expands and breaks open the concrete (concrete cancer) at best or the ducts at worst.