ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area How do you get under a walk or drive?

This pic, taken from another thread, shows the path a pipe takes:




This made me wonder ... how do YOU get the pipe under the walk? What tips / tricks work? Which don't?

Actually did this just this fall.

Pipe needed was 1/2 rigid. Ran 3/4 to cover future.

Took 1st piece of 3/4, put coupling end with weather proof ko seal on it, wrapped in duct tape. Then proceeded to pound coupling end vertically under 4' walkway. The pounding started at 7" below grade, ended up 16 below grade. Cut off damaged end, threaded on new threads, and the rest is easy.

OK, had a laborer do the pounding, but still it was my idea...

If the walkway was there first? Using a trencher to dig close as you can without damaging anything. Then use a Hilti TE 74 with especially fabbed chisel bit to drive a piece of 1" RMC under the walkpath. Then use the RMC as a sleeve for the pvc. I would think that you would be able to get the pvc stalks to bend enough so that the only factory or short radius ninetys in the run would be at the stub ups.

yeah what Tom H said....about gettin someone else to beat on it.

actually I've done the same thing

Water hose and a short of piece of EMT. It gets muddy but it works great.

I'm with ITO.
It works really quick, too.

Just had to do it the other day. I had
1- 1" pvc conduit and 2- 3/4" pvc conduits to run under a 4 ft. walk. I got a piece of 2" emt and flatened the end on it and proceeded to hit it with my sledge hammer. I would twist it ever so often with my big channel locks, so it wouldn't get stuck. Worked great. I thought I had hit a drain pipe close by when water started pouring out my hole, but come to find out it was just rain water that had collected under the walk Steve...

I have actually had success with driving 3/4" pvc conduit under a 4' sidewalk (x3 actually) Just heated up the non bell end and flattened it to a wedge shape and hammered it through with a sledge hammer.

"Water hose and a short of piece of EMT. It gets muddy but it works great"

Yes this does work, and works well, only problem is it also weakens the walkway bed, and in no time at all, you get a call. my sidewalk cracked, where you installed the electric, what are you going to do about it, so that may of been the easiest method, but it was the most costly.

1/2" rigid, and use ground rod driver on Hilti.

Pound rigid end into a point with small slegde, drive under sidewalk.

Cut off end when on other side, thread or use rigid compression coupling.