HELP PLS - Electric Mains Cable in Garden near surface ?

christopher_h

Hi,

We were trying to dig out some old tree roots today in the front garden when suddenly we came across the electric mains cable about 1 foot down - apparently it should be much deeper than that (poss 75 cm) so it must have been forced up by the tree root.

Unfortunately we hit the cable hard with a pick axe and it made a massive bang and all the lights in the house flickered but it didn't cut off the electric - thankfully the guy digging had a plastic handle but was shaken up a bit. He's ok thankfully.

Has anyone come across this kind of situation before ? We are now dilligently following the cable across the garden so we can avoid hitting it again.

Do you think we should call the electric board ?

Any help/advice appreciated.

Chris

espresso

christopher_h wrote: »

Do you think we should call the electric board ?

If this is the main feed to your property, then yes as it will need repairing.

Canucklehead

christopher_h wrote: »

Hi,

We were trying to dig out some old tree roots today in the front garden when suddenly we came across the electric mains cable about 1 foot down - apparently it should be much deeper than that (poss 75 cm) so it must have been forced up by the tree root.

Unfortunately we hit the cable hard with a pick axe and it made a massive bang and all the lights in the house flickered but it didn't cut off the electric - thankfully the guy digging had a plastic handle but was shaken up a bit. He's ok thankfully.

Has anyone come across this kind of situation before ? We are now dilligently following the cable across the garden so we can avoid hitting it again.

Do you think we should call the electric board ?

Any help/advice appreciated.

Chris

Good morning: Call your supplier now...and don't do anymore digging:eek:

HTH

Canucklehead

duncan320

Depends on the age of the property as to how deep it is. Yes call suppler its down to them to fix, it cant be don eby a domestic electrician. Hit one with a digger arm, you dont half jump !

christopher_h

thanks Duncan - do u think they would pay for it - someone mentioned the figure of £750 (ouch)

jimbo_the_jetset

Cheaper than a life!!

Any chance of an insurance claim if it is broken and needs fixing? Call them and ask.

duncan320

I dont know if you could claim on insurance if you hit it yourself. Yes they might charge you, the price can be reduced by digging it out etc ready for them to come and repair, ive known them do this, if they are willing to reduce the price that way. Either way it needs sorting. If you explain what happend and how shallow it is maybe they will do it free, if its a old property you may get away with this, they are aware of cable paths and depths in new propertys.

christopher_h

hey guys thanks for all your replies ;-)

Now we've discovered the water mains pipe too which is also at a shallow depth (approx 1 and half feet). I wonder if this is cause of the age of the property (1918) ? Maybe they will do it as a free service cause of safety issues and new depth rules - any thoughts pls ?

Chris

espresso

Very surprised that you haven't contacted them yet!

:rolleyes:

baldelectrician

The fault will 'fester' and it will be a possible fire risk.

It's the elec companies property, but it is your (insurance) problem

You could be looking from £600 - £1500 to fix it. They might want to renew the cable from the damaged area to the house.

Give them a call, take a seat and hope.

kisk

Worked for a REC for 20 plus years and I would urge you to contact the local REC ASAP. If your damage causes a fuse to blow back at the sub station not only will you be off supply but so will a lot of your neighbours.

I think they will charge you anything from £400 to £800. Not good but at least no one was injured.

We once had someone doing some work for a shop and they were digging out in the public footpath when they damaged an oil filled 33,000 volt cable. There was no electrical flashover as they just nicked the out side sheath but the damge was such that it cost them over £20,000 to repair.

Kisk