"Tomes" wrote in
ink.net:

"KLS" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:05:48 GMT, "Tomes"
wrote:
"KLS" wrote in message
I did finally get an answer from my city building code dept.
For circuits up to 20 amps, the conduit must be buried 12"
deep. For more amperage than 20, the conduit must be buried
at least 18" deep. Also, a GFI must be installed on the
circuit. This is in western New York.

One thing that I did when I buried an outside line some time
ago (and it was
18 inches down here in NJ with an electric and a cable line
[cable while I was at it]) was to put a pressure treated 1x4 on
top of the wires so that if
anyone ever dug down they would hit the wood instead of cutting
through the
wire. I also laid the wire on a few inches of sand down there
for drainage.
This all might have been required (it was about 15 years
ago...).

Great suggestion, and I may yet take it even though I plan to
run the cable through the grey PVC pipe. On the other hand, if
I'm spending all that money on the pipe, getting enough 1x4 pt
wood for this job (30 ft worth) might be an unnecessary
expense.

Yep, the pipe might be enough; I just had the exterior grade
wire running by itself on top of the sand and under the wood. I
only had pipe vertically where it sprouted up out of the ground
out by the above ground pool. Good luck with this.
Tomes




Sand is good - it cuts down on abrasion during frost heaving, etc.
One suggestion I have seen is rather than using the pt 1x4 is put
in some of that yellow construction tape about 6 in above the wire
or conduit. Doesn't thunk like wood when you hit it, but it lasts
forever and is really visible when you uncover it. If you can find
the kind that has the metal foil in it, it works well for being
findable by a metal detecter (although with all that wire close by
I can't see the benefit[now I remember - the foil tape was for
burying plastic water pipe!]}

Also, might be a good idea to make a map of the area involved with
measurements from known locations and stick it in one of those
brown kraft envelopes and tack it to the wall of the outbuilding
and maybe next to the fuse box as well.