[TowerTalk] Ground Rod Myths?

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

On 4/24/2014 1:36 PM, Brian Amos wrote:
> I have the equipment to drill a 6 inch hole through just about
> anything, what if I placed my grounding rods in concrete or grout?

I would think it wouldn't hurt.  It might act as a small UFER ground. 
increasing the contact area of 20 inches Vs 1.9 inches or almost 11 
times the area of the single ground rod.

How well that'd hold true? I don't know.

73
'
Roger (K8RI)


> Would that help or hurt the grounding?  I do have a ground resistance
> meter I use for work for providing soil resistance values for
> grounding communication towers and equipment so I could test it I
> suppose, but I usually like to know what I'm getting myself into.  I
> have seen them drive a steel lathe (about 3/4 inch in diameter) into
> slightly weathered bedrock with a post pounder on a bobcat.  The
> cobbles and boulders just cause it to move a bit to the right or left.
>   Of course the commercial towers I do the foundation design for
> usually have a grounding grid surrounding them.  I am tempted to see
> if one of the tower engineers will design my grounding system with a
> similar system, they tend to suffer little if any damage from
> lightening, and being on mountain tops I am sure they are struck quite
> often.
>
> Brian
> KF7OVD
>