A conduit bank or a duct bank that is a underground protection especially for the protection of the wires that go underground. It is a series of PVC conduits or pipes used to protect wiring running through them. Duct banks protect cables from weather damage, corrosion, extreme temperatures, and more. The reinforced concrete covers the PVC conduits to deliver this protection.
In this article we wil discuss the core concept of these banks and also the benefits, working, installation and all other terms that relates to it. This article will analyze each of them. These article will focus om analyzing the core concept amd the benefits arising from it.
understanding the concept of duct bank
It is a protective system for utility wires to keep them safe underground free from any problems so that they can function properly. It is made from PVC conduits that are also further protected and enclosed in concrete. There are the reasons as like they are used to protect utility wires such as those used for electricity or telecommunications.
These not only provide cover for short distance but also for long distances. Many public facilities facilities and buidings go for this method as they require extensive systems for the amount of underground cables they require.
An individual or single family homes not require this method but the large buildings, schools, hospitals and companies that require all wiring underground go for this method to ensure safety. Data centres use this method so often as they require a large arrangement of wire of networks so as to promote safety and protection of the employees working in those centres.
WHY TO USE DUCT BANKS?
The reinforce concrete covers the PVC conduits to deliver the protection. It also allows flexibility if you want to replace the wires you can simply replace them with the new ones. It ensures that all the works are in a contionous motion and no restriction should occur in the work of employees as the wires provide electric and telecommunication connections to these data centres.
Duct banks protect cables from weather damage, corrosion, extreme temperatures, and more. The reinforced concrete covers the PVC conduits to deliver this protection.
BENEFITS OF DUCT BANK:
There are many benefits of these concrete protection underground banks for schools, hospitals, business firms, data centres, educational institutions etc.
- It is useful for transferring electricity and telecommunications signals underground without any restriction.
- It allows for better heat dissipation of electrical cables.
- There’s also virtually no opportunity for animals that chew wires or thatburrow underground to get through them.
- There’s no chance for animals such as squirrel to cause outages, which sometimes happens when they get a little too curious.
- It protects the conduit and the banks.
- It provides flexibility to replace the wire as and when you need with the passage of time.
HOW DOES DUCT BANKS WORK–
These are usually present as they reduce the maientanance work of utility cables. Outer concrete gives protection from the earthquakes, disasters, floods, underground uncertanities etc. Cables cannot touch each other and come in contact optimum coverage is there for them. This seperation also allows cables and wires to organize more easily. Duct banks enable them group by their purpose or where they need to go. The conduits are used to start organizing cables and the duct bank allows them to organize even further.
Seperate ducts provides that the wires may not touch each other and seperate signals transmits from each wire There can be one duct bank for telecommunications and another for electrical cables or data cables. This organization makes it easier for changes to these utilities without having to disturb any of the others.
Ultimately, duct banks make it a lot easier to manage underground cables. New cables can install or replaced faster and less resources in a range of environments.
INSTALLATION AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS:
Constructing and Installing the duct banks are also a very crucial task as everything is under the ground so a proper care is necessary to look after it. Proper installation helps to ensure the durability of the duct bankand provides the intended protection. Duct bank installation requires specialization knowledge and should be done by skillful contractors. The person with the optimum amount of knowledge especially the engineers can perform this task.
When carrying out trench and bedding preparation, it’s essential to make sure working conditions are safe. The area needs to be stable and offer structural support for the duct bank. It’s essential for conduits to align and joints cemented with steel reinforcement placed properly and concrete sufficient for the requirements of the project.
These are the following methods of constructions and installations:
- The trench is dug and shore upwards
- PVC conduits and spacers to be install properly by the workers.
- The steel reinforcement adjusted and installed.
- The concrete cures until it’s strong enough for the forms to remove.
There are other methods also for installation and construction that is known as prefabrication which saves time with on-site construction. After the trench has been dug elements such as conduit skids, racks, and stub-ups are install together with steel reinforcement. After this the concrete is poured. This process can be faster compared to the traditional method, but it can still take time to complete the final stage of ordering and pouring the concrete, as well as waiting for it to cure.
CONCLUSION
So, in this article we came to know about what is duct banks and how does it work with its benefits , installation and construction we analyzed it with regards to all the keypoints mentioned in the article.
It is a protective system for utility wires to keep them safe underground free from any problems so that they can function properly. If these wires come in contact with each other it can lead to a disaster so for preventing it these banks are there to ensure safety and security of the person working in any of the institutions or organization. Hence, these banks are a great help providing coverage to wires against natural disasters.
