Conduit-In-Casing Construction

(Revised 2-24-02)

Invention
Ive done it, Ive done it!
Guess what Ive done!
Invented a light that plugs into the sun.
The sun is bright enough,
The bulb is strong enough,
But, oh, theres only one thing wrong
The cord aint long enough.

The poem, Invention1 illustrates the never-ending quest of the power and
communication industries to get the cord long enough. Conduit-in-casing construction
is one method that helps make the cord long enough to get from the communication or
power source to the consumer. If you cant go over it and cant go around it and,
therefore, must go under it, conduit-in-casing is often the construction method of choice.
1

Shel Silverstein, Invention, Where the Sidewalk Ends. (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1974) 48
reprinted with permission

What is Conduit-In-Casing Construction?

The conduit-in-casing construction procedure is a solution to the problem of laying
power/communication cables under a surface obstruction (highway, runway, rail bed,
river, etc.) without disrupting either traffic roadbed, rail bed or riverbed. The basic
procedure is to:
1. Excavate and shore pits on both sides of the surface obstruction.
2. Bore under the surface obstruction connecting the excavated pits and install
a steel casing.
3. Place conduits in the steel casing.
4. Inject grout into the area between the conduits and steel casing.
5. Allow the grout to cure.
6. Pull power and/or communication cables through the conduits.
The steel casing is usually pushed into place with hydraulic jacks while the earth ahead
of the casing is removed with special boring machines or by hand.

Why use Conduit-In-Casing Construction?

Organization: Conduit-in-Casing construction keeps the conduits organized within the
steel casing. The advantage of this method is the precise placement of the casing
within the earth. Such precision helps avoid existing underground pipes, cables and
obstructions. The organization also keeps to a minimum underground clutter that may
hinder future construction projects. The casing is easily located and avoided by those
doing future underground work.

Protection: Conduit-in-casing is the obvious choice when maximum cable protection is

a priority. The casing will protect mission critical cables, such as airport cables, from
being severed by a natural disaster or construction accident.
Longevity: Conduit-in-casing construction provides the ultimate in longevity. Further,
it is normally possible to replace cables by simply pulling out the old cables and pulling
in new ones.

Steel Casing Sizes

The most common steel casings used for conduit-in-casing installations are shown in
Table I. Steel casings above 12 in diameter should always be specified by both OD
and wall thickness. Unless there is a specific reason to the contrary, casings between
14 and 48 should have one of the ODs shown in Table I. The selection of casing
ODs that do not conform to this table may require specialized boring equipment,
causing higher installation costs. Casing wall thicknesses that do not conform to Table I
are often used and normally do not pose any installation problems.

Table I
Common Steel Casings used for Conduit-in-Casing Installations
Casing OD (Inches)
Nominal
Actual
12
12.75
--14
--16
--18
--20
--24
--30
--36
--42
--48

Casing Wall Thickness (Inches)

Under Highway
Under Railroad
.188 & .250
.250
.188 & .250
.250 & .281
.188 & .250
.250 & .281
.250
.312
.250
.344 & .375
.250
.375
.312 & .375
.375 & .469
.375 & .500
.500 & .531
.500 & .750
.625
.500 & .750
.688

Since wall thickness requirements vary with each location, it is important to consider soil
conditions and to get casing approval from the applicable airport or roadway or
waterway authorities.

Conduit Normally Used

Normally the conduit used within the steel casing is EPC40 (Schedule 40) PVC per
NEMA TC-2. On occasion, DB120 PVC conduit per NEMA TC-6&8, epoxy reinforced
fiberglass conduit per NEMA TC-14 and/or UL1684 and heavy wall HDPE conduit have
been successfully used. These are all fairly heavy wall conduits that hold up to the
hydraulic pressure normally encountered when injecting grout, They also hold up to the
loads presented by the bands that are used to hold the conduits and bore spacers
together.

What Supports the Conduits?

Manufactured spacers are available that are shaped to fit in a round steel casing. Some
of the typical features incorporated in bore spacers are:
1. Provisions for mounting rollers to aid in installation.
2. Holes for wire ropes, which when held taut prevent the corkscrewing of the
duct bank when pulled through the casing.
3. Float-stops to prevent the conduit from being deformed by the upward load
created by the duct bank floating when the grout is injected.
4. Flow holes and a contoured perimeter to allow the grout to pass through
easily.
5. Bore Spacers are usually manufactured from a nonmetallic material.
It is a common practice to place the bore spacers five feet apart and secure the
conduits to the bore spacers with carbon steel bands (see figures 6 through 10). On
occasion non-magnetic stainless steel bands, nonmetallic bands or split stop rings are
used to secure the conduits to the bore spacers.
3

The most common separation between conduit-in-casing conduits is shown in Table II:
Table II
Common Conduit Separation Requirements
Duct Bank Application
Communications
Power
Between Power & Communications
Fiber Optics

Common Separations
1
1 or 2 (3 on occasion)
1 , 2 or 3
1

A few typical conduit-in-casing configurations are shown in Figure 1 through 5 below:

Figure 2 - 2.000" Conduit Separation

24" OD x .375" Wall Casing

Figure 3 - 1.000" Conduit Separation

20" OD x .375" Wall Casing

Figure 1 - 1.500" Conduit Separation

30" OD x .469" Wall Casing

Figure 4 - 1.000" Conduit Separation

36" OD x .531" Wall Casing

Figure 5 - 2.000" Conduit Separation

48" OD x .688" Wall Casing

NOTES: 1. Conduits and casing are not shown in side sectionals.

2. I = Hole or slot provided for grout INJECTION pipe.
3. F = Grout FLOW hole.

Grout and Reasons to Grout

The space between the OD of the conduits and the casing ID is normally grouted for the
following reasons:
(Reasons 1-3 are applicable to both power and communication applications. Reasons 4
& 5 are applicable only to power applications)
1. To eliminate the possibility of a duct bank collapse due to the force put on the
duct bank when cable is being pulled into place.
2. To eliminate the possibility of duct bank collapse due to the weight of the
cables.
3. To eliminate the possibility of duct bank rotation due to cable weight causing
an out of balance rotational torque.
4. To reduce the possibility of a duct bank meltdown when there is a cable fault.
The grout will tend to contain the fault to a single duct.
5. To transfer the heat generated by the power cables to the surrounding
ground.
It is important to select a proper grout recipe for the injection process. An ideal grout
will fill the casing void completely, while maintaining a pumping pressure low enough so
as to not collapse the conduits.
There are a number of grout mix designs that have worked very well for conduit-incasing installations. Cement grout mix designs that are highly cementitious (high in
cement and fly ash) and have a slump of approximately eight inches perform well for
both power and communication applications.
Grout with special additives (such as Elastizell or Mearicrete) which reduce the grout
density to about 75 lbs./cu. ft. and increase fluidity so it is similar to that of an 11 slump,
also work well, but since they have lower thermal conductivity they are normally
restricted to communication applications.

No Grout and Blown Sand Applications

There are applications where it is advantageous not to fill the area between the conduit
and casing with grout. When approaching a no-grout application, be sure to allow for
duct bank expansion and contraction due to temperature change, and be sure that the
bore spacers are of sufficient strength and close enough together to properly support
the cables.
On rare occasions dry sand is blown into the area between the conduit and the casing.
Since sand will not dissipate the heat generated by power cables as quickly as cement
grout, it may be necessary to de-rate the power cables. If kiln dried sand is used, the
installer must ensure that the sand is cool; hot sand can cause the conduit to deform or
collapse.

Grout Injection Techniques

There are a number of different grout injection techniques and variations. Figures 6
through 10 show a few of these techniques.

Other Methods and Practices

The foregoing is a general overview of the common conduit-in-casing practice that
utilizes a straight steel casing and nonmetallic conduits. Some other methods of
installing power and communication duct banks under surface obstructions that are
beyond the scope of this bulletin are noted below:

HDPE casing containing a nonmetallic duct bank that is pulled into a directionally
drilled hole.

Casingless duct bank that utilizes nonmetallic conduits, bore spacers and bands
that is pulled into a directionally drilled hole.

Epoxy reinforced fiberglass casing containing nonmetallic conduits that is placed

in a dredged trench and backfilled with marine grade concrete.

Casingless duct bank that utilizes bore spacers and bands that is pulled into a
dredged trench and is then backfilled with marine grade concrete.

Concrete pipe casing and nonmetallic conduit.

Polymer Raceway Products Section of the

National Electrical Manufacturers Association
MEMBER COMPANIES
AFC Cable Systems
New Bedford, MA 02745

Lamson & Sessions

Cleveland, OH 44122

Allied Moulded Products

Bryan, OH 43506

P-W Industries, Inc.

Atlanta, GA 30336

Arlington Industries
Scranton, PA 18517

Panduit Corporation
Tinley Park, IL 60477

Cantex, Inc.
Mineral Wells, TX 76068

Panolam Industries Intl., Inc

Auburn, ME 04210

Champion Fiberglass, Inc.

Spring, TX 77388

Picoma Industries, Inc.

Waynesboro, PA 17268

Cooper B-Line
Highland, IL 62249

Producto Electric
Orangeburg, NY 10962

Crouse-Hinds Division
Syracuse, NY 13221

Southern Pipe, Inc

New London, NC 28127

FRE Composites Corporation

St.-Andr-Est, Qubec J0V 1X0

Underground Devices, Inc

Northbrook, IL 60062

Hubbell Incorporated
Orange, CT 06477

United Fiberglass of America, Inc

Springfield, OH 45501

IPEX, Inc.
Mississauga, Ontario L5J 4C7

Wiremold
West Hartford, CT 06133

J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc

Livingston, NJ 07039
This document provided courtesy of:

Setting Standards for Excellence

This document was prepared by the NEMA Polymer
Raceway Products (5TC) Technical Committee.
8