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Power line across pond

wanderer

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Jan 29, 2010
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2,698
I have a small cabin here on my property. It’s 840 ft.², 24 x 36. we are doing a complete remodel of the structure because it’s in poor condition. I don’t plan to put in anything that’s very power intensive so the actual electrical requirement is quite low. Honestly a 50 amp service would probably suffice.

That said, I don’t plan to go to all of this expense and put in a 50 amp service. The cabin is 420 feet from the nearest power pole. My wish is to install the electrical meter on the pole and run it underground into the house. The power company will honor that wish but they say 420 feet is too far. they would prefer to run it over head but they also don’t want to run power over the pond. I don’t want that either.

The pond dam will be about 250 feet across and is not yet constructed. A straight line from the power pole to the house would go straight across the dam. My thinking is to install 4/0 aluminum conductors into the house, which would allow me to draw up to about 75 A at less than 3% voltage drop. 125a at 5% drop. Seems reasonable to me.

The part I can’t figure out how to run the pipe. I could have it buried inside the dam, but that seems like a good way to have difficulties later. My other thought is to mount posts on the backside of the dam and just run it a few feet above ground. I’ve been looking online and I can’t really find any guidance on this. Just said it must be about 24 inches underground and covered with soil. Still, there’s several different ways to do that and I’d like to understand which ones are better and which ones are worse.

Thanks in advance for any tips or ideas.
 
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jeepxj

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Put a railing up on the dam and use the conduit as one of the runs for the railing. it'll blend in that way.
 
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W

wanderer

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Put a railing up on the dam and use the conduit as one of the runs for the railing. it'll blend in that way.

Wow…that’s a good idea! I was worried about appearance but that can work.
 

jeepxj

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Wow…that’s a good idea! I was worried about appearance but that can work.

if it concrete you can use some unistrut to put it neatly on the backside of the dam in an inlay. I think its called an inlay. on the form put in 2 layers of 2x6 to create an indent in the wall itself. then put the conduit within it, making it a feature not a tack on.

like this but slightly bigger
https://imgur.com/9nWiKry
 
Last edited:
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wanderer

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Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
2,698
if it concrete you can use some unistrut to put it neatly on the backside of the dam in an inlay. I think its called an inlay. on the form put in 2 layers of 2x6 to create an indent in the wall itself. then put the conduit within it, making it a feature not a tack on.

like this but slightly bigger
https://imgur.com/9nWiKry

No it’s an earth dam. That’s part of the deal. Whatever I do I’m going to have to weed eat and mow around.
 
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mcbane

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There can be huge liability from a dam break, especially if design documents show you viewed that as a minor consequence to be accommodated. Better to design the dam not to fail, with an appropriate spillway or overflow to prevent failure.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app
 

kj_mustang

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Harrisonburg, VA
Earthen dams will fail if beavers move in and no one is on site for a long period of time to discover the issue. They will clog the main spillway.
 

dcg9381

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Jun 20, 2018
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Location
Austin, TX
Earthen dams will fail if beavers move in and no one is on site for a long period of time to discover the issue. They will clog the main spillway.

Beavers? We ain't got no beavers.
It's erosion and flash flooding (around here) that will eventually get a man-made barrier that isn't maintained.
 
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