UFER grounds 3

[lexkyphil]

I have, for many years maintained that electrical service grounding electrodes obtained by connecting a copper wire via cadweld to rebar in concrete slabs or footings is a superior way to provide a low impedance ground for any facility. I have used the Lyncole XIT copper pipes and they are very good but in my new heavy industrial field of work, that is not a real option. What is your experience with using UFER grounds in various soil and climate installations? If you have test results that would be good as well. Thanks in advance for your input. Phillip in Kentucky.

 

[wayne440]

An FM station in KY (WHHT) uses a UFER ground at the transmitter building with reportedly good results. Here is a link to a somewhat dated article about the install.

 

[7anoter4]

Ufer Grounding seems to be good enough as a lightning discharge path. But it depends upon soil resistivity. For a highly resistive soil this could be not so effective. Use of Lyncole XIT copper pipes in highly resistive soil it seems to me a better solution.
I did use never the Ufer Grounding alone, but combined with a regular ground grid.
First of all is very difficult to calculate the actual Ufer Grounding contribution to the Ground Grid resistance, GPR, Touch and Step Potential. Usually we take it as a bonus only.

 

[dpc]

In the US it is generally felt that a Ufer ground system will outperform a traditional grounding system for most building installations. Moist reinforced concrete is surprisingly conductive. And if the soil gets so dry that the concrete dries out, the standard ground rod system won't be doing much either.

For large installations such as substations or powerplants, I would not rely solely on the Ufer ground, but use it as a supplement to the ground grid, as previously suggested.