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Underground cables and retaining wall


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The plan is to one day replace my retaining wall. Currently there is a Foxtel (now NBN) and phone line in a white underground conduit running from the street under the shed and though the retaining wall to the house. The conduit is not very deep in parts. Under the shed and lowest part of the retaining wall is 200mm deep, I believe it should be at least 350mm deep. From the ground the conduit runs diagonally up thought the retaining wall to the house.

If I do replace or remove part of the retaining wall the conduit/cabling will be to short.

Does anyone know if Telstra or NBN would rerun the cable due to not be run deep enough in the first place (from the early 90s) at their cost or I would I have to pay for it?

 

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Telstra / NBN don't normally run cable on your land, they only concern themselves with the connection at the pole/pit and the connection at the house wall.

You would get a certified electrician or otherwise to lay the cable and then you pay Telstra / NBN to connect at either end.

I believe that service is around $300

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Check with the "Dial Before You Dig" site and they will tell you exactly what depth to there knowledge the cables are at. If you say the conduit is not at that depth it will be up to the installer to rectify. There is a standard but most of the work is done by contractors and they take shortcuts. An example that comes to mind is an NBN line that was supposed to go .5 meter under a creek bed but the contractor ran the bare cable 1 meter over the creek. The contractor had to go back and make it right at there cost.

Another example was an NBN line that was according to dial before you dig buried .5 meter beside a concrete path. It turned out the contractor buried it in the gravel beside the concrete at a depth of 50mm. The contractor had to go back with an excavator to rectify. The info dial before you dig receives is what the contractor supplys and when there are variations between what they have to what is done, they respond.

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I would say you will be up for payment. Just been through all this with cabling. AS3000 states 300 (I dont have a copy and I got it quoted as that) Check out https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/how-to-connect/preparing-for-the-nbn/trenching-requirements-for-the-nbn-network That will explain what the specs should be on the retaining wall.

Power cables must be 600mm in orange conduit. Network and/or 12/24v in white conduit can be any depth - everyone was different - I laid at 400mm) Gas - 450mm. Drainage - 400mm. To save a ton of money you can dig yourself and get inspected by electrician, cabler and plumber before you back fill - saved 1.5k. Also really important to register with dial b4 you dig and find out where your cables are. When finished have the new cabling setuo printed out and put a copy in your electrical box

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Check with the "Dial Before You Dig" site and they will tell you exactly what depth to there knowledge the cables are at. If you say the conduit is not at that depth it will be up to the installer to rectify. There is a standard but most of the work is done by contractors and they take shortcuts. An example that comes to mind is an NBN line that was supposed to go .5 meter under a creek bed but the contractor ran the bare cable 1 meter over the creek. The contractor had to go back and make it right at there cost.

Another example was an NBN line that was according to dial before you dig buried .5 meter beside a concrete path. It turned out the contractor buried it in the gravel beside the concrete at a depth of 50mm. The contractor had to go back with an excavator to rectify. The info dial before you dig receives is what the contractor supplys and when there are variations between what they have to what is done, they respond.

 

 

We had telstra do a 50mm trench,over a dead tree and around neighbours tree

 

Lasted 2 years lol

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Yer I must admit dial before you dig aren't exactly the most accurate but at least if you use there info and you strike a cable, your not at fault.

I used there resources on the farm because there is a set of old PMG signs going through one of the pine forests. A nice line of signs all stating PMG lines laid in this area. Dial before you dig had no knowledge of any such cable.

Funny story, we also have a high pressure gas pipe line going across the farm in a 10 meter wide cleared evsment. By high pressure I mean this gas line supplys natural gas to the east coast of Australia from Bass Straight. Well sign posted and when the guys come to clear any regrowth, they call me and I meet them on the day to provide access. One of the guys said, what ever you do don't hit the line. It is 1.5 meters down and if you need to dig for any reason, call us and we will come out and dig for you.

I stupidly asked, "how much would it cost if I was to hit the gas line?".

The guy says nothing, no cost to you at all. I said, " How come no charge?"

He says, " On account we wouldn't know which of the 1000 parts you will be blown to to charge"...:blink:

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We replaced a fence a few years ago. The telstra lines were originally run along the bottom rail. Same time I replaced the old sewer pipe.I put the new conduit in the same trench. Telstra ran new cables to mine & neighbours house. There is now a pit in my path. They did it at no cost to me
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Dial before you dig will only give you the location of the main services. Once it leaves the mains and enters your property there is no records only the sewer. Don't bother wasting your time about the depth either with your phone cable as its done by contractors and there is no depth regulations as the cables aren't dangerous. You will have to pay to get a telstra prefered contractor to do the job.

 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

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Dial before you dig will only give you the location of the main services. Once it leaves the mains and enters your property there is no records only the sewer.

 

Correct. We did the same to try and locate services on our front lawn and all the reports did not show a single location on our property.

And even still, whats on paper vs what is physically in the ground are probably different. Our house plans show main storm water drain running underneath our concrete driveway out to street, when in actual fact (thankfully) it was on 45deg angle across our front lawn, as we had to get it dug up and repaired last year.

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Thanks everyone for your input and links, I have read them all and the links very helpful.

 

I did contact Dig before you dig but they only provided where my pit was out in the street I also contacted my local council but they had no records either. To find the cables I hired one of these.

https://www.kennards.com.au/pipe-cable-locator-transmitter.html?trackParams=801-1-2-99.95

Worked really well. It found the cables and told how deep they were.

If I do start work on the wall etc. I will ask a for asset relocation and tell them about the cables not being at least 300mm underground. If they move them at no cost its a bonus but if not well it was worth a try.

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If you are in Vic , not sure about other states , its a free service to get your gas service located and will be done within 24 hours Just call the gas company in your area (not the billing company) the one that maintains the infrastructure.

 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

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We do this kind of stuff here in country Vic so this is what generally applies. Your comms should be min P23 White (not grey) Telstra / NBN marked conduit. 300mm deep to top edge of conduit. Run in a straight line from boundary edge to premises. If your going to use bends/elbows, use sweep or long radius bends and no more than 2 in the whole run. Stay at least 250mm from other services like gas, elect & water.

Contact DBYD to get a general layout of known services but don't rely on this info solely. This service is only as good if its updated.

As the initial install is not compliant things could go either way with Telstra footing the bill. Rarely in these situations we have had Telstra do the entire reinstall at their cost done by their contractors. However nowadays the "customer" (or their licensed contractor) does the section from the premise (house) to the property boundary (closest corner to the street pit / pillar / pole). This location should be liaised with Telstra as sometimes the closes connection point may not have capacity. If you are just redoing the existing install then you can cut and join the pipe at each end being careful to keep the pipe free of debris and make sure to glue the connections. Replacing the lead due to extension or re-routing has also gone both ways with supply and install or the replacement lead-in cable. Telstra will do everything else from property boundary to pit and connection of cable changeover.

 

I would argue the fact that the current install is not compliant and push for Telstra to fix it. Errors found during planned building works.

Here is the general guidelines: https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/key-information-for-builders-and-cablers.pdf

 

Good Luck with it man.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Telstra came out and had a look at the cable. I asked about it not be compliant but he didn't really say anything about it. He said they can reroute it by cutting the conduit and pulling the cable though and then run the conduit away from the retaining wall. He said if I dig the trench it would be cheaper. They would just the conduit and cable reroute.

The quote they sent me was this:

 

Item 1 1 $41.94 Utilux 2/5 Pair enclosure/TJK5 joint up to 5 pairs jointed each

Item 2 40 $68.80 Rod Rope and Prove Conduit any diameter (in conjunction with Cable Hauling) per metre

Item 3 40 $74.40 Haul Single or Multiple 2 or 5 Pairs per metre

Item 4 4 $305.52 Jointer (Fully equipped including vehicle) per Manhour

Item 5 1 $158.00 Local Authority Charges each

Item 6 12 $463.68 Supply and install new P20 lead-in pipe per metre

Item 7 1 $220.80 Disconnect / Reconnect cables HFC and Telephony Actual cost

Item 8 1 $199.97 Telstra Network Integrity fee 15% Actual cost

Notes:

Variation will apply for unforeseen underground obstructions.

Client to clear new proposed Telstra conduit route.

Client to breakout and re-instate concrete slab (as per agreement).

Client to supply partial trench for lead-in conduit.

 

BOQ Grand Total $1,533.11 ex GST

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Do the conduit yourself and pull the cable through your self> the trench is open if you dig it so why pay someone retail to do it?

 

Just get them to do the jointing.

 

If you know a telstra tech they'll do it for a carton, just saying

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Looks like your doing it yourself. Not rocket science. Cut wire , re route , join up again. make sure your solder your connections & make them water proof. You may need 2 lots of connections if the new route is longer & extra bit of cable is needed. you do not have to cut wire under your wall, maybe in a more accessible spot along the run

 

Or what he said above , must have been writing at the same time

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Although Dave's correct, you don't even have to solder if it's wire, the telstra guys may use quick connects. That's how we fixed them when we cut them running pipes in. If it's optic, pull the cable and pay them just to connect. simple easy work for you.

 

SolderingIsBetterPunkin

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