I was on a job last year where some backfilling/grading was going on, and some feeder conduit was damaged by the backhoe operator. Since the feeder was already pulled, and energized, we told the GC that it would take about a day to get it taken care of. Since it was already inspected, and the GC was scheduled to have a grade inspection and concrete pour in about a couple of hours, the GC did a quick patch during lunch by slicing a section of oversized pvc and glueing the pieces together and over the ends of the existing pvc (after somehow removing the badly damaged portion). The electrical contractor I worked seemed oblivious or unconcerned about this whole thing. I guess it was one of those prudent "look the other way" business decisions. Does this happen very often? Has anyone else dealt with this scenario in any different way?

I have never had this happen with a conduit filled and energized, which is good. But I have also never pulled wire in a conduit where grading was not already done. The only way I can think to handle the situation is to de-energize, patch, and then re-pull and tie the wires back in. What are the chances that a crushed piece of PVC will protect a wire? Not very high I think. I don't like the solution that the GC came up with and decided to implement.

Also, what GC would think he is qualified to do electrical work! Especially if he’s dumb enough to play around with hot feeders! Anyways, scary scary stuff!

i see the sistuation before also.. unforetly the only way to do fix this right is deengerized the cables then remove it then cut the damaged conduct and put the new one in place then back fill some way to prevent from breaking again then run the cable back in the conducts again then reenerized it.

as far for split conducts pices what the gc did i personally wont allow it up here in northen usa ( in wisconsin ) due the frost and ground can shift during frost time the frost can go pretty deep and this year it was pretty deep frost little over 2 feet of frost allready ..


merci marc

p.s. joe as far for your inspection do you allow this kind of metholds of useing split conducts to repair?? myself i will not allow it and i know it say somewhere on art 110 but what subpargraph it say

thanks again

merci marc

There are repair kits available that function as described above. I don't have a manufacturers name in front of me but I have seen them. Seems like a great idea to me. The key would be checking the condition of the wiring.

electricmanscott,
Here's a link to what you were describing http://tvccatalog.tvcinc.com/product_page_1.asp?model=Conduit+Repair+System

Hello

If the Feeder wire is listed for Direct burial and the conduit is for extra protection then I dont see a problem.

Good link, Txsparky. I doubt that the GC used such a set-up tho. (I was at lunch when the fix was made, and by the time I came back they had it done and backfilled. I just talked to the backhoe operator briefly to learn about what they did.) Do you know if this product is marketed through national warehouses? Also, from the link provided, I can't tell if the splicer is approved for underground applications --- tho it would be pretty stupid to have it NOT approved for such situations. Anyone use this device? Looks like the split PVC is divided lengthwise only once, so that you would have to kind of pry apart the opening to slip the wiring through the slit, prior to clicking or zipping/gluing the seam together.

ElecVA and Frenchelectrican, I agree totally with your comments. That is why I'm surprised that the contractor I was working for didn't even care to look at it, nor question the laborer who installed the "quick fix". By the way, the grading was done before the wire was pulled, but they had to do some additional trenching for some drain pipe, and that's why they damaged the pvc that crossed under the new drain pipe trench. The conduit was fine until they started the final backfill and carelessly ran over the exposed conduit.

BiggladAnt, the wiring was just the usual thhn/thwn building wire, not any sort of direct burial wire.

[This message has been edited by Elzappr (edited 02-21-2003).]

FWIW, see http://www.carlon.com/Brochures/2B10-SplitDuct.pdf

Split Duct Conduit

Description:
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When snapped together, the unique interlocking design of Split Duct
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Split Duct Conduit

Part No. Description I.D. O.D. Weight Per 10' Min. Order
P125F 1.25" Split Duct Conduit 1.250 1.660 5.50 Lbs. 10'
P15F 1.5" Split Duct Conduit 1.500 1.900 6.50 Lbs. 10'
P2F 2" Split Duct Conduit 2.000 2.375 8.50 Lbs. 10'
P25F 2.5" Split Duct Conduit 2.500 2.875 10.50 Lbs. 10'
P3F 3" Split Duct Conduit 3.000 3.500 13.00 Lbs. 10'
P4F 4" Split Duct Conduit 4.000 4.500 18.50 Lbs. 10'
P5F 5" Split Duct Conduit 5.000 5.563 24.50 Lbs. 10'
Underground