Re: Underground cable

Eon have just been putting in replacement feeds to some distribution poles near me, in some cases they seemed to me to be no more than 300 mm deep. I guess it was SWA, does that count as mechanical protection?

The local leccy company have 11kV conductors laid directly under flagstones in the next street to me; feeding from an overhead a couple of hundred yards away to the S/S just around the corner from here. Certainly no more than a couple of inches beneath the flags, anyway.

I dimly and uncertainly recall that the rules for 11kV are less strict than they are for SWA. The big stuff is assumed to be spade proof, and mechanical diggers are assumed to be phoning the map database beforehand.

they went down over a meter here.

The original enquiry was about a golf course. I assume the flagstones don't carry vehicular traffic.

ITYM "metre" ?

My supply comes up from underground to the service fuse and meter. I suppose it could come down over the meter if you were in a basement though.

Bill

Well not officially, but people often do park on the pavement. And crack the flagstones in the process. (Actually that's probably why those cables failed a year or so ago - damaged by cracked flags.)

I dont think they do suggest a depth. Maybe the OSG does?

There is no requirement for mechanical protection if the cable contains an earthed armour, or metal sheath as protective conductor. So, SWA cable at 500mm would be fine for most circumstances.

I was quoting 705.522 (i)

Yes, you are right, but personally, I wouldnt class that location as agricultural, but, for the OP's purpose, the 100mm extra depth isnt going to make any practical difference.

(and, this is an example of how the Regs are written - such a mish-mash of pages regarding the depth, why not have it all in one table, with references to the Regulation at the foot of the table?)

Alan.

Which is really for agricultural settings where livestock is present. Although, you might argue that golf clubs are a favorite haunt of capitalist pigs ;-)

A summary of the generally accepted guidance on SWA in "normal" burial situations can be found here:

No - agricultural machinery was what I had in mind.

I was going to say that golf courses are unlikely to be dug up - and the biggest risk would be aerating spiking (what's that - 4-6" depth)?

But the above is a very a good point and would make me want to lay concrete "lids" (path edging on its side) over the entire length of cable, which at