Grounding and bonding of outside metal light poles

[bdn2004]

We are installing 480V lighting fixtures on a baseball field on 55' tall metal poles. Each pole will have a ground rod at the base for lightning protection. Does this need to be bonded to the equipment grounding conductor run with the underground power conductors? There are 10 poles around the field. Do all the lightning rods need to be bonded together?

 

[dpc]

You need to bond the equipment grounding conductor in the feeder to the ground rod (and the pole).

Actually, for a single circuit to the pole, I'm not sure the ground rod is required by NEC, but you definitely need the grounding conductor and the pole needs to be bonded to it. If you do install the ground rod, it all has to be bonded together at the pole.

 

[rcw retired EE]

Your concrete pole foundation and its anchor bolts are a better ground than your ground rod. The foundation has a lot more surface area. I would tie the equipment ground, the ground rod and the foundation all to the metal pole.

 

[EEJaime]

What I do is tie the Pole anchor bolts to the reinforcing steel cage of the base and specify a ground lug on the inside of the pole at the handhole. The ground conductor then is terminated to the lug and to the enclosure for the disconnect or ballast/control enclosure. The anchor bolts connect the entire pole to the ground system. If you add a ground rod on top of that, it would also be bonded to the ground system.