electrical ground rods and code

[lquade]

somewhere on here someone mentioned how changes in the building codes were enforced hapharzardly and as an example mentioned grounding rods for electrical poles having to be in dirt, not cement. well, gee, this is puna, certainly not 8 feet of dirt, so off i went to the building dept to speak with one of the electrical inspectors. here is what he told me: the code doesnt say "dirt", it says "earth". you can put cement in the hole, but you dont have to, most people place the ground rod, then refill the hole with what came out of it. chipped up rock/lava. he said this also applied to the electrical pole itself, and that the ground rods could be in the same hole, as long as they were not touching each other. so if you used a large enough core drill, the two poles could be upright and parallel to one another. hope this info helps others putting in their poles.

[jerry]

Well, to be specific the 2008 code section 250.53(G) says "...in contact with soil." Article 100, Definitions, does not give a definition for soil. Other places in the grounding sections uses the word earth, for example 250.52(A)(3) which is for concrete-encased electrodes.

There is movement to change references to soil to earth and another movement that wants to change grounding to earthing. If you want I can direct you to web sites where these things are debated ad nauseum.

Be aware that the first pole, the one with the meter, is installed according to HELCO specs, and they require the pole to be supported by concrete.

Bottom line, don't put concrete around your ground rods, do put concrete around the pole.

Jerry

[lquade]

thanks jerry, more good info. that would seem to require 2 separate holes, one with the pole and concret, one with the ground rod and dirt/earth? building dept seemed to think one pole was ok. what is your take on that? thanks, linnette