Buried cable

[nickk]

mystery,is this common,we’re sinking a water pipe for our new campsite,came across this,it’s dead alright! 350mm below,this is flooded every winter at least once.

 

[brightspark]

mystery,is this common,we’re sinking a water pipe for our new campsite,came across this,it’s dead alright! 350mm below,this is flooded every winter at least once.View attachment 501991View attachment 501992

whats your point

 

[colnerov]

whats your point

I think he's showing off the toys he's got.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

There's a glint if steel in the hole...could be armoured cable maybe?

Also nice toys

 

[Melvyn Best]

I suspect it’s a lot more common than you think? There has been several cases in our area where shallow buried cables have been damaged. It might be possible to check if it’s live with one of those “pens” that glow if near power?

 

[dobbslc]

How do you know if it's dead?

 

[OJCar]

As best as I can see it looks like a twisted pair cable, so possibly telecoms.
If telecoms it would only be about 50volts DC and probably not be picked up by any of the Live cable detectors.

@nickk do you have a better photo of the cable please?

I take it that you are sure its dead because you put the digger bucket thro it ...

 

[addjunkie]

Cables normally run fairly straight wheres the line point too? I tried one of those cabletracer things and a normal metal detector to find our old phone cable. Couldn't find it…digger bucket worked no problem.

Ditch doesnt really look deep enough for water pipe. 750mm these days I believe.

 

[Erie Fred]

How do you know if it's dead?

It 'aint wigglin around is it ?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Cut it and see what happens ?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Poke it with a stick...usually a good way of telling if something is dead .

 

[Erie Fred]

Cut it and see what happens ?

When cutting into serious (11k-34.5kv) underground lines (on purpose)
it's really, really important that the line is checked as dead.

Last thing our guys do before cutting the cable, is clamp a device on the cable, and remotely fire off an explosive device that drives a nail into the cable.

Thereby shorting the center conductor to the grounding shield wires on the outside
of the cable.

 

[nickk]

I put a meter on it,then dropped a knife over it.then touched it with the back of my hand.It’s heading towards our mains transformer but not directly as the angles off a bit,this is 30m from the riverbank and 100 from the road. I thought in a low risk of traffic and its black 400 mm is ok.

 

[minimutly]

Hard to tell, but is it insulated? If not it's the supply earth to the transformer.

 

[Robotstar5]

When cutting into serious (11k-34.5kv) underground lines (on purpose)
it's really, really important that the line is checked as dead.

Last thing our guys do before cutting the cable, is clamp a device on the cable, and remotely fire off an explosive device that drives a nail into the cable.

Thereby shorting the center conductor to the grounding shield wires on the outside
of the cable.

Called cable spiking in the UK - link

 

[Martin-Sy]

If not it's the supply earth to the transformer.

Yes, that was my thought too.
IIRC for a rural pole mounted transformer there would be separate earth electrodes for the HV side (usually 11kV) and LV (415V) side.
These would be physically separated (ie run in opposite directions for example).
Just leave them be and ensure that there are buried when you've finished.

Called cable spiking in the UK - link

I remember those too. The ones we had (SWEB area) used a blank ammunition cartridge.
They were clamped over the cable, armed and then fired by pulling a string from a suitable distance.
May sound daft but quite often in urban areas there were several cables running in close proximity and at the bottom of a newly dug muddy pit it could be difficult to identify the one to be worked on.
Additionally the records were not always accurate so the cable spike gun was often before opening up a cable to make a joint or repair.

 

[nickk]

Hard to tell, but is it insulated? If not it's the supply earth to the transformer.

Not insulated.

 

[colnerov]

Yes, that was my thought too.
IIRC for a rural pole mounted transformer there would be separate earth electrodes for the HV side (usually 11kV) and LV (415V) side.
These would be physically separated (ie run in opposite directions for example).
Just leave them be and ensure that there are buried when you've finished.


I remember those too. The ones we had (SWEB area) used a blank ammunition cartridge.
They were clamped over the cable, armed and then fired by pulling a string from a suitable distance.
May sound daft but quite often in urban areas there were several cables running in close proximity and at the bottom of a newly dug muddy pit it could be difficult to identify the one to be worked on.
Additionally the records were not always accurate so the cable spike gun was often before opening up a cable to make a joint or repair.

I was talking to the neighbour who used to work for BT, in his early days they were digging in the grass verge when one swung his pick axe and there was a flash and a bang. So out came the suits and clipboards, and they were questioned about doing their due diligence in regard to the map of services. Which showed that the power cable was under the grass verge the other side of the road.

 

[500e]

Cables not deep enough , no tape, not where the map shows
Or not there but coming from a different direction altogether