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Running conduit over a walkway

6751 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Oso954
I have to run power from my basement to the back yard. The problem is that there is a concrete walkway that buts up against the house and comes out 40 inches. Is their way possible way I could run that conduit on top of the sidewalk?
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There's no way to do that safely without going at least 7'' above the sidewalk. Why don't you just go under it? You could start from the basement to dig a hole the other side of the sidewalk.
House is on slab. Running across the walk way into the hottub would be ideal
"basement to backyard", "on a slab" ???
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There's no way to do that safely without going at least 7'' above the sidewalk. Why don't you just go under it? You could start from the basement to dig a hole the other side of the sidewalk.
I hope that you meant 7 feet, not 7 inches.

This will be a trip hazard and will not pass any kind of insurance inspection.

Run a conduit laterally along the house to the nearest gateway, build an archway there, run the conduit up and over the arch, down the outside, then underground to the tub.


ED
Run it over the sidewalk and build and secure a ramp over it.
Other than arching over like suggested earlier your only other alternative is to use a concrete saw cut a slot through the through the sidewalk. Anything raised above it even if you have a ramp will be a tripping hazard. If you had a basement like you originally said it would be a lot easier.
do you know how deep the slab is at parameter ?
Slab house with basement. Lol. Half the house is slab. The basement is a walk out. The walkway is about three inches thick.
I am now thinking I will have no choice but to cut a channel in the walkway. How should power be run over a walkway. The walkway is 39 inches wide. I buts up right against the house
How wide is this sidewalk/walkway? You can tunnel under it if there is dirt/grass on each side of it. I used to work for a lawn sprinkler company and we tunneled under walkways and sidewalks all of the time. I tunneled under the sidewalk in front of my own house to put sprinkler heads on a grass strip that abuts the street. Dig a hole on each side of the walkway deep enough that it is well below the concrete and gravel base. At that point you just start digging laterally with a shovel. A trenching shovel works the best as it is not too wide like a spade shovel is. Sometimes you have to use a large steel bar to loosen up the dirt in between and move large rocks, etc. Keep working it from each side or have a helper digging in the other hole and it won't take too long to get through to the other side. A much better option than cutting up your walkway.
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Either cut a channel, which is not too hard to do but requires patching, or tunnel under it. If you can't access both sides of the walkway (if it's directly adjacent to the slab) then you can drill a hole through it right next to the house, and use a water jet (1/2" PVC pipe with a nozzle on the end) to tunnel under it from the other side until you reach the hole.
I would cut more than a channel. Take out 24 inches or so, so you have plenty of room to dig and perform any other work needed.

Often the "replaced section" of concrete looks better IMO, than a "patched channel".
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