Getting electric out to the end of the driveway

[ng_reader]

Pretty simple question, really.

I understand that I have to use special electrical cable that can be buried underground, but how do I get underneath the sidewalk or under the driveway and such?

If my hunch is correct, it's just brute strength and digging underneath the sidewalk on both sides. Any special tools to look for?

btw, I'm a phillies fan.

[John Grabowski]

They make special tools for Phillies fans. Check out the links below. Both of them are similar in operation. Usually under a sidewalk you can dig a trench on each side and pound a pipe through to make a hole for your cable or conduit. Going under a driveway would probably require one of the tools below. There are also companies that specialize in underground boring and you might be able to rent a directional boring machine at a contractor's rental yard.

[RBM]

There are hydraulic rams for blowing a channel under a driveway, but if it's not too wide, you may be able to bang a length of galvanized pipe under it. You need to dig a trench on one side of the driveway to lay the pipe in, keeping it horizontal to the ground. Also be sure to use a pointy fitting on the front end of the pipe, or smash it closed. You can cut it open with a sawzall once it's through

[SteveBell]

Soft soil: Dig a hole on both sides of the walk. Turn on your garden hose and use it to wash dirt out from under the walk. Insert a pipe through which you can run your cable. Backfill.

Hard soil or wide walk: Do the same thing as for hard soil, but put a metal pipe on the end of your hose. Use it to get the water jet right at the cutting surface. You can also use it as a pry bar to move smaller rocks. If the soil is too hard, let it soak awhile before you try to wash through it.

[Claude Hopper]

You could get a few sections of black iron pipe half or three quarter inch, end caps and straight connectors. Use one of the end caps to pound on, the other end will be going under the driveway or walk. Remove the cap and add a nipple connector and section of pipe, replace cap and keep driving, add sections as necessary. When the pipe comes through the other end, remove caps and feed wire through the pipe.

[Bob F]

If is is not to hard or rocky, you can use a water jet to drill under with PVC pipe (or PVC conduit).They sell a kit at Home Depot that contains a hose fitting and a blaster nozzle to fit on a 1" PVC pipe. Or, you can fake it with pipe fittings. Sometimes, just connecting a hose to one end, and cutting 1/4" teeth in the other end will do it.

Dig a ditch at the depth you want. Deep enough to clear rocks and gravel installed beneath the drive. The ditch doesn't have to be the full length of a

10' pipe section, but long enough thet you can point the pipe parallel to the surface at the desired depth by flexing the pipe. Holding the pipe to the bottom, turn on the water and slowly push the pipe into the dirt. If you use the cut teeth method, twist it back and forth as you go whenever it resists moving in. Water and dirt will wash out around the pipe. Add pipe sections as needed to reach as far as you need.

When you've gone far enough to reach the other side, either just dig until you find that end, or if you don't have a nozzle on the end, there is another trick. Hook a hose to a long enough roll of 1/2" black plastic pipe, like they use for drip systems. Slide it through the pipe under the drive, carefully keep it aligned so that the far end stays trying to go up(It is curved from being in a roll). Slide it under drive in the PVC pipe until it gets to the other end. Then turn on the water, and continue pushing it gently. It will wash out its path until it pops out at the surface.

Where I live, I've used the pipe method to install "sand points" down to the hardpan layer 16' down(2" PVC), and ran a 1" PVC pipe about 50 feet horizontally. I do have a good sand layer down below a foot or 2 of soil.

[taylorsm50]

Any idea what Home Depot calls the kit? Sounds just like what I need, but I can't find it.

Thanks much.