How deep does electrical conduit need to be buried. If you want to bury an electrical conduit and don’t know how deep you need to bury then follow us for usage instructions.
An electrical conduit is simply a tube and encased electrical wires for heterogeneity of applications. An electrical conduit is used as a shield and gives protection to the electrical wire and the person near the wire.
Electrical conduit also gives safety from outside effects and stave off machinal destruction. There are different applications and variations depending on the specific application that is being used.
Suppose you want to bury an electrical cable from home to a garden or anywhere from one place to another. It would be useful to utilize an electrical conduit.
The National electrical codes give recommendations for burial depths and notify local requirements codes. If you want to run your work, it’s better to get a permit from your local inspector.
Here, we will discuss the different types of electrical conduits and the required depths for different types of surfaces.
How deep does electrical conduit need to be buried
Types of Electrical Conduits
These types of electrical conduits may help you get clear concepts of conduits types and their uses.
1 EMT
EMT stands for Electrical Metallic Tubing. It is thinner, not much heavy. That’s why it is usually called a thin-wall conduit. By galvanized steel or aluminum, it can be made. It is easy to curve by using a tube bender.
You can use it when physical protection is required. The available standard size for EMTs is from 1 inch to 1.5 inches.
Couplings enlarge the length of the conduit piece. You can install EMT with fittings and couplings. For compression, you can use screws.
Specially connectors are made for the end of EMT conduits, so you don’t need to cut threads. It can be easily connected by other devices.
2 ENT
ENT stands for Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing. It is another type of electrical crinkled conduit. It is waterproof and prevents it from polluting. You can easily bend it without using any special equipment or tool. But don’t bend it where flexibility is required.
Installation of ENT is not difficult. It also has special connectors. Welding and cutting are not necessary for ENT installation. It’s better to use ENT upper the ground.
3. (RMC)
This type of conduit stands for Rigid Metal Conduit. It is hard and has heavy walls and ends with screw threads. It is made of Galvanized steel.
It is most suitable to use for commercial and industrial purposes of wiring. RMC is mostly used to enfold wires that are using a high voltage of electricity. It gives more protection and safety.
RMC’s available standard length is around 10 feet to 20 feet. It doesn’t provide special connectors as it has threaded fittings at the ends for installation.
RMC is the most expensive electricity conduit, and it has the ability of long-lastingness.
4. IMC
IMC stands for Intermediate Metallic Conduit. It is made of steel. You can say that it is a central conduit of RMC and EMT. It is could be installed with threads and also without threads.
As it is not a thinner one and not a thicker one. If you talk about its weight, it’s not heavy and also not lighter.
IMC is the middle form of RMC and EMT. You required tools like clamps for fittings.
5. FMC
It stands for Flexible Metal Conduit. It is the most flexible conduit and well suited for indoor conduit installation. It is the most suitable conduit when you have a lot of curves to do.
For example, from one quarter to another quarter or somewhere, you need a lot of conduits for using different appliances. Its flexibility gives the approval of utilizing this conduit at that place, where you can do a lot of bends easily.
6. Rigid PVC Conduit
PVC stands for Polyvinyl Chloride. It looks like plastic pipes. Glues are commonly used in the installation of PVC conduits. If you want to bend it, you are required a heater box as that heater box is portable.
Electrical Conduit Depths
Here are some details about the depth requirements for burying electrical conduits. Depth always depends on the type of surface or soil. Non-metallic conduits are more suitable for a sandy surface.
If the surface type is hard, then it’s better to use metallic conduits. But here is a plus point for rocky surfaces which is that you don’t need to bury electrical conduits to maximum level.
Depth for metallic conduits
- Metallic conduits provide more protection.
- 6-inch of depth is required for the soil surface.
- 4-inch depth under the 4-inch slab.
- 18-inch below a broad street.
- 24-inch for the public roads.
Depth for non-metallic conduits
- Less protective than metallic conduits.
- 18-inch, below par.
- 12-inch in case of 2-inch concrete protection.
- Other applications are the same as the Matellic applications.
Burial Cables/Conductors
- 24-inch below the soil surface.
- 18-inch in case of 2 inches concrete.
- Usually 12-inch, 6 inches in case of 2-inch concrete.
Low power cables
- 120 voltage wired called low power cables.
- 12-inch standard bury depth.
- 6-inch with 2-inch concrete.
- 12-inch for a broad street.
Shrink depth for control cables
- Less voltage of current is less dangerous.
- 30 voltage-current includes in control cables.
- Less deep-buried is required because of less voltage.
- Usually required bury depth 6-inch.
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