UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
(OP)
UFER Ground is a conception of the Grounding where rebars -reinforcing bars from the concrete foundation have been used as a part of the grounding.
Is anybody knows anything about an application of UFER Grounds here in Canada. I didn't find any information in Canadian Electrical Code plus Ontario Electrical Code.
Is UFER Ground accepted by any Canadian Standard ?
I have a Design Package ( prepared by American Company)for the small Hydrogen Production, but I am really pessimist that UFER Ground can be accepted as Grounding System.
( hydrogen is very flammable gas)
Is anybody knows anything about an application of UFER Grounds here in Canada. I didn't find any information in Canadian Electrical Code plus Ontario Electrical Code.
Is UFER Ground accepted by any Canadian Standard ?
I have a Design Package ( prepared by American Company)for the small Hydrogen Production, but I am really pessimist that UFER Ground can be accepted as Grounding System.
( hydrogen is very flammable gas)






RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
The Ufer ground was first used in Arizona and was found in their soil conditions ( dry and sandy ) to be an excellent ground.
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
does thsi cover it?
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
My impression after reading IEEE was that the code doesn't recommend such bonding between earth conductor and the reinforcement steel in concrete.
Any thoughts / experiences??
Thanks in anticipation.
raghunath_n00@rediffmail.com
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
Even in the southwestern desert you would need chronic current flow to dry out the concrete. This would only happen if you had an open neutral with consequent voltage fluctuations or a leaking underground electric line which would partially energize drain pipes and floor slabs leading to nasty tingle voltages. This is how you can get shocked by an applicance or water pipe that is properly grounded.
Even if the sanitary sewers are plastic there is a recorded instance of electricity crawling up the slime on the inside of a plastic drain pipe for a shower. Really got the howmeowner's attention. See Old Electrical Wiring by David Eli Shapiro.
I am also aware of a mobile home park that has tree and grass roots that are penetrating the joints of plastic sewer pipe that uses O-ring gaskets instead of solvent cement. The pipelines have to be bored out every year and then foaming herbicide injected into the pipelines. 2 of the advantage of gasketed joints are that they can be assembled with water running through them and each joint is an expansion joint. However, you do need to wrap the joints with copper foil to discourage the tree roots and grass roots.
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
I can assure you that the Ufer ground is an excellent ground in part because the concrete increases the contact area with the soil. If you have a 30 foot by 30 foot house with typical 16 inch wide footers, then bonding to rebars or a copper wire that goes all the way around the footer give you about 120 square feet of soil contact. Compare that to how back in the days of telegraphs that used the earth as the return wire the preferred electrode was a 3 foot by 4 foot metal plate giving 24 square feet of contact with the soil. If you drive a rod underneath the footer where the grounding electrode conductor hooks up then you will have a low inductance ground for any lightning current that is coming in over the service drop.
A book on high performance grounding methods is Army Manual 5-690. I forget what the URL is but if you feed "army manual" and 5-690 into Google you should find it. This book cover things such as lightning rod systems, protection against heavy duty radio frequency interference, electromagnetic pulse protection, controlling signal leaks, and so forth. A rather heavy read but it has lots of drawings and diagrams to help you understand some concepts. It also has some tested methods of how to bond a waveguide or coaxial cable for which a listed grounding block is not available.
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
If the steel reinforcing bond with the concrete is lost, then grounding problems may be the least of your worries. The structural integrity of the foundation depends on this bond.
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
Concrete resistivity higher than surrounding soil or reverse ?
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
RE: UFER GROUND AND CANADIAN STANDARDS
Early telegraph lines were made out of steel wire partly for mechanical strength and because long lengths of copper wire was just not manufactured. The mechanical strength issue was partly how copper clad steel wire was invented.
The 25 Ohm figure for an acceptable grounding electrode was originally that a 25 Ohm ground at each end would give very reasonable efficiency for a telegraph line say 50 to 100 miles long. In actuality, you need a 5 Ohm or better grounding electrode to stabilize an open neutral condition on a residential service enough to run a few light bulbs and alarm clocks overnight until an electrician shows up.