External cable run best method for this situation

Hi

I've got an new outbuilding that needs power run out to it, the building is very close to the house and the original plan was to run an armoured down the wall, in a 600mm deep trench and then up the wall of the outbuilding. I've marked the originally intended route on the image below, which also shows just how close the two are.


However when the area was being dug out to prep for the concrete base I found a thick cast iron pipe running parallel to the back wall of the house, this was buried very shallowly, see the two pictures below.



A call to SGN (my local gas network supplier) and a visit from one of their engineers confirmed that this is a gas main that feeds both my property and that of my neighbour. The engineer had a diagram which shows the line runs from the road, down my driveway, along the side of the house before turning across the rear. See the dodgy MS Paint diagram below.


I was told by the SGN engineer that I was not to disturb the pipe under any circumstances, so digging under it to run the armoured isn't an option. The property is a bungalow, so running a cable across on a catenary isn't viable either.

I'd like to know what would be a reasonable approach to getting a cable run in a compliant manner - any help or advice appreciated.

Me personally I'd dig either side of it and underneath it by a good foot or two, but not disturb the ground anywhere near the pipe. Then I'd push the SWA under and fill back in. As long as it's well away from the pipe nobody will ever be any the wiser.

Does that make sense? I found it hard to get it into words.

They shouldn't bury a gas main so close to the surface anyway.

Good use of the word 'shallowly' there aswell!

DPG said:

Me personally I'd dig either side of it and underneath it by a good foot or two, but not disturb the ground anywhere near the pipe. Then I'd push the SWA under and fill back in. As long as it's well away from the pipe nobody will ever be any the wiser.

Does that make sense? I found it hard to get it into words.

They shouldn't bury a gas main so close to the surface anyway.

Good use of the word 'shallowly' there aswell!

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Thanks for responding, it makes sense, yes, I'm just really wary as the engineer said that if anything happens to cause a leak in the pipe I would be liable for the cost of them putting it right. I did ask why the pipe was so close to the surface and he just shrugged and said "these properties pre-date health and safety", which is probably accurate but at the same time very unhelpful!

To add to the complications there is a sewer pipe that runs directly under the path in the picture at about 800mm, so it will really be threading the needle to get between the two of them without disturbing either. Nothing is ever easy.

dobseh said:

Thanks for responding, it makes sense, yes, I'm just really wary as the engineer said that if anything happens to cause a leak in the pipe I would be liable for the cost of them putting it right. I did ask why the pipe was so close to the surface and he just shrugged and said "these properties pre-date health and safety", which is probably accurate but at the same time very unhelpful!

To add to the complications there is a sewer pipe that runs directly under the path in the picture at about 800mm, so it will really be threading the needle to get between the two of them without disturbing either. Nothing is ever easy.

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The only other option you have is to run some metal Unistrut from the wall to the outhouse which probably wouldn't look the best to be honest. I'd go underground like DPG said and be as careful as you can. As long as you pack it back in once finished i don't see how there would be any leak of any sort.

JM1TTY said:

The only other option you have is to run some metal Unistrut from the wall to the outhouse which probably wouldn't look the best to be honest. I'd go underground like DPG said and be as careful as you can. As long as you pack it back in once finished i don't see how there would be any leak of any sort.

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Asthetic is pretty unimportant and the Unistrut would be by far the easiest and feels the least risky(for my wallet). I'm guessing there is no minimum height for a solid metal strut crossing a path? If I tuck it right up against the soffit of the house it would probably be 2.2m above ground level...

dobseh said:

Asthetic is pretty unimportant and the Unistrut would be by far the easiest and feels the least risky(for my wallet). I'm guessing there is no minimum height for a solid metal strut crossing a path? If I tuck it right up against the soffit of the house it would probably be 2.2m above ground level...

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To be honest i don't think there would be an issue as long as nobody can walk into it. Unless you've got Tyson Fury visiting anytime soon you won't have an issue

JM1TTY said:

To be honest i don't think there would be an issue as long as nobody can walk into it. Unless you've got Tyson Fury visiting anytime soon you won't have an issue

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I've invited him multiple times, but he never shows up.

Thank you for the help, much appreciated.

You don't have to bury the cable 600mm down....

Its a footpath. Hardly going to be taking heavy traffic.

JM1TTY said:

Unless you've got Tyson Fury visiting anytime soon

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As he is pretty tall!
Photo of him on training run near my brothers house.

I've seen overhead cables in a few of these scenarios!