Types of Underground Conduits | Civil Engineering

Underground Conduits

What are conduits?

Conduits have different meanings in different subjects.

For example:

Geographically, conduits could refer to a channel carrying water, underground tunnel or waterway (river or canal).

In terms of electrical systems, it may refer to an electrical conduit, HVAC (duct) etc.

We are referring to the conduits which is laid underground and used for variety of purposes.

For example:

• Sewers
• Drains
• Culverts
• Water mains
• Gas lines
• Electrical cables
• Telephone lines

Load on Underground Conduits

Conduits are subjected to immense load and pressure since they are underground. In this, forces acting on conduits due to external loads are considered.

Underground conduits should be capable of withstanding the external load. When the conduits are under pressure, they should be able to withstand the internal pressure under extreme conditions.

The external forced acting on the conduit depend upon a number of factors. They are as follows:

• The buried depth

• Rigidity of the conduit

• Method of installation

• Preparation of conduit bedding

• Live loads

• Dead loads

Conduits are classified into various categories for ease in analysis. They are as follows:

1. Ditch Conduits
2. Negative Projecting Conduits
3. Tunnelled Conduits
4. Positive projecting conduits
5. Imperfect Ditch Conduits

With this we come to the end on the discussion on “Various types of Underground Conduits”.

We will study “Construction of Conduits” in a stepwise manner in our succeeding articles.