Underground Conduit and Manholes

Depending upon the siting of a building and its relationship to existing buildings, pullboxes, manholes, and duct infrastructure, a new manhole, pullbox, or duct bank may be required. Campus standards for communications require that every building provide two (2) distinct entrance routes to the campus backbone. The supporting manholes and duct routes will be identified by Communications Services in the earliest stages of design review.

Backbone Duct Bank

If a building siting requires an extension to the existing campus underground duct system, the following construction elements shall be included:

1. Where possible, the electrical and communications ducts shall share a common route and trench with depth, spacing, slurry, marking, and configuration as required by code and campus practice.
2. In a common trench, the electrical and communications ducts shall be separated vertically by a minimum of six inches (6.00”) with communications on top.
3. Concrete slurry shall fill the trench to a minimum of six inches (6.00") above the communications ducts.
4. A marked tape shall be placed on top of the slurry before the trench is filled and compacted to surface requirements.
5. A backbone communications duct bank requires four (4) four-inch (4.00") schedule 40 ducts as a minimum. Additional ducts may be required in unique circumstances.
6. All communications conduits must use factory provided sections, sweeps, and couplings, and no on-site heat-shaping is allowed.
7. The location of conduits termination within manholes shall be identified by Communications Services.

Entrance Duct Bank

Ducts from a serving manhole into a building main terminal room shall have the following elements:

1. Where possible, the electrical and communications ducts shall share a common route and trench with depth, spacing, slurry, marking, and configuration as required by code and campus practice.
2. In a common trench, the electrical and communications ducts shall be separated vertically by a minimum of six inches (6.00") with communications on top.
3. Concrete slurry shall fill the trench to a minimum of six inches (6.00") above the communications ducts.
4. A marked tape shall be placed on top of the slurry before the trench is filled and compacted to surface requirements.
5. An entrance communications duct bank requires a minimum of three (3) four-inch (4.00") schedule 40 ducts. Additional ducts may be required depending upon the size, siting, and function of the building.
6. If there are two entrance (main) terminal rooms in a building, a communications duct bank from separate manholes shall be constructed to each terminal room.
7. All communications conduits must use factory provided sections, sweeps, and couplings, and on-site heat shaping is not allowed.
8. The location of conduits termination within terminal rooms shall be confirmed by Communications Services during earlier design reviews.

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