Vehicle resistant conduit

[moguk]

Has anyone any experience of conduit being used in areas of light traffic to run cable - such as across the entrance to a residential drive.

I had seen a reference in the past to conduit which withstands the weight of vehicles without crushing, but I can't seem to find it now.

Most of the alternatives for cable protection I have seen are either very expensive by comparison, or could easily be removed /damaged - for example by mischievous kids.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Galvanised conduit is pretty robust stuff but it'll be a trip hazard if surface mounted on the ground and you'd have to fix it down very securely otherwise it'll flap about when run over.
For a permanent job, cut a slit and bury your SWA or conduit. For temporary, use rubber cable protectors

 

[moguk]

Those were my initial thoughts, but the drive is made up of pavers laid in herring bone fashion and I was hoping to find a solution to avoid taking any up, or damaging them.

I take your point about the trip hazard, so I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and lift the pavers (or grind/chisel a channel).

Thanks for your input.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

once you have got he first paver up the rest should be easy and they (hopefully are laid on a decent bed of sand, try not to disturb the sand too much as the pavers can be a s*d to get back down neatly otherwise)

 

[moguk]

once you have got he first paver up the rest should be easy and they (hopefully are laid on a decent bed of sand, try not to disturb the sand too much as the pavers can be a s*d to get back down neatly otherwise)

I have had problems with this happening in the past , which is why I was hoping to avoid lifting any
I'll just have to be careful

 

[crystal ball]

Could a boring contractor drill under it, theres some fancy drilling kit about now

 

[moguk]

Could a boring contractor drill under it, theres some fancy drilling kit about now

I considered that, but there does not appear to be anyone close to the property with the necessary equipment, and the nearest hire centre who has any is half a day away and wants £100 for a day minimum hire.

 

[SUNRAY]

How strong are you?

I had to get a SWA under a resin Footpath, prized flower border and garden wall, in total about 2metres.

This was for a builder, I got him to dig the cable trench wider and deeper to give some working space, hammered the end of scaffold pole to seal it then hammered it through with a 14 pounder. Once through I cut the damaged ends off and the SWA slipped straight through.

I warn it is a lot of effort and carefull initian aiming and it needs a lot more space than you imagine to allow for a pole longer than needed (due to the hammer damage) and to swing a sledge hammer in a safe working place.

 

[conny]

How strong are you?

I had to get a SWA under a resin Footpath, prized flower border and garden wall, in total about 2metres.

This was for a builder, I got him to dig the cable trench wider and deeper to give some working space, hammered the end of scaffold pole to seal it then hammered it through with a 14 pounder. Once through I cut the damaged ends off and the SWA slipped straight through.

I warn it is a lot of effort and carefull initian aiming and it needs a lot more space than you imagine to allow for a pole longer than needed (due to the hammer damage) and to swing a sledge hammer in a safe working place.

I did something similar a few years ago and found the secret to going straight(ish) was to have the initial trench as level as possible and a few inches deeper than you want the tubing to be. On the bottom of the trench lay a few wooden blocks with a vee cut in them to hold the pipe steady. Line your pipe up on the blocks and, with one foot on the pipe to steady it and stop it jumping about, start to hit it forward at a steady pace. Check occasionally with a spirit level to see it's still fairly horizontal and take frequent breaks.

 

[SUNRAY]

I did something similar a few years ago and found the secret to going straight(ish) was to have the initial trench as level as possible and a few inches deeper than you want the tubing to be. On the bottom of the trench lay a few wooden blocks with a vee cut in them to hold the pipe steady. Line your pipe up on the blocks and, with one foot on the pipe to steady it and stop it jumping about, start to hit it forward at a steady pace. Check occasionally with a spirit level to see it's still fairly horizontal and take frequent breaks.

Yep.

I used a bit of 4x4 timber to rest on and 2 0r 3 pairs of angle irons ( part of the job was removal of a chicken wire fence and its metal posts) driven in either side, more to reduce the 'spring' in the pole. There were 2 of us and we did short spells in between other work. I confess it was much harder work than I expected in solid clay.

I have done something similar since several times[
A much shorter distance between flower beds either side of steps, being soil it was so much easier.
Between basements in adjacent buildings which was a real PITA as there was loads of hard stuff, assumed to be builders waste.