Duct and conduit cable · Georgia
We buy cable in conduit for CIC and duct runs
Cable that was pulled into conduit and may never come out again. CIC lots are reviewed on the conduit, the length of the run and the assumption that the cable inside is wet, because nobody has been able to look at it.
- HDPE and PVC
- Road and rail crossings
- Cable plus duct
01Overview
What this page covers
Cable in conduit is exactly what it sounds like: cable installed inside a duct, either pulled in on site or supplied as a factory assembly with the cable already in the conduit and a pulling eye at one end. It is used wherever direct burial is not acceptable — under a road, under a rail line, through a plant yard, up a structure.
The buying problem is that the cable is invisible. Its size and type are known from the legend at the exposed ends, its length is the conduit length, and its condition is unknown until the conduit is opened. That is why a CIC lot is reviewed conservatively and why the conduit itself is part of the calculation.
02Specification
What a CIC lot contains
- Conduit
- HDPE (SDR 11 or 13.5) or PVC schedule 40 and 80, 2 in. to 6 in.
- Cable
- 600 V through 35 kV, single or multi-conductor
- Assemblies
- Factory pre-pulled with a pulling eye, or field pulled
- Lengths
- 20 ft PVC sticks; HDPE in 100 to 500 ft coils or on reels
- Ends
- Capped and sealed, with a pull rope or eye left in place
- Uses
- Road, rail and creek crossings; plant yards; service laterals
- Condition
- New surplus, buried and recovered, crushed, water-filled
- Records
- Duct bank drawings, cable schedule, pull records
A duct bank drawing with the run lengths is worth more than a measurement on site. It gives the footage, the number of bends and where the cable was spliced.
03What we buy
What we buy
Factory pre-assembled CIC
Cable pulled into conduit at the plant, with a sealed end and a pulling eye, shipped on a reel or in a coil. Surplus assemblies are the cleanest version of this material, because the cable has never been buried.
Field-pulled cable in duct
Recovered from a duct bank during a rebuild or a road project. The cable comes out in the lengths between manholes, usually cut at each end, and it is wet by definition.
Duct banks and conduit remnants
PVC or HDPE duct, concrete-encased or direct buried, recovered in short sections. The conduit is a product in its own right where the lengths are clean, and scrap where they are not.
Conduit on reels and in sticks
Unused HDPE on reels and PVC in sticks from a canceled job. Straightforward material, reviewed on diameter, wall class and length, and useful to any contractor.
04Evaluation
How a CIC lot is reviewed
Length and diameter first, then what is inside. A run of 4 in. conduit with a 15 kV cable in it is measured in feet of conduit, and the footage of cable is the same number. Where the run is in sections between manholes, list each section separately, because a 400 ft section and a 40 ft section are different products.
Then the exposed ends. The legend at each end gives the cable type, and the end condition shows whether water has been in the conduit. A CIC section that was capped at both ends is worth opening carefully; one that was open to a ditch for a season is copper.
Finally the practical question of removal. Cable that was pulled in with lubricant will come out with a winch; cable that has been sitting for thirty years may not come out at all, and the conduit has to be cut into sections to recover it. Say whether the run is exposed, whether it is still in the ground and who is lifting it.
A conduit is not a safe place to find a surprise. Duct banks are shared, and a conduit that looks abandoned may carry a live circuit belonging to somebody else, including telecommunications and traffic signal cable. Nothing is cut until the route is located and the owner of every duct in the bank has been identified, and any excavation is located through the state one-call service before a machine is on site.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
07Questions
Cable in conduit questions
Can cable be pulled out of conduit and re-used?
Sometimes, if the run is short, straight and lubricated, and the jacket survives the pull. It is judged on the jacket at the pulling end, which takes the abrasion.
Is the conduit worth anything on its own?
Yes, where it comes out in clean lengths. HDPE on a reel and PVC in sticks are useful materials; crushed or concrete-encased duct is scrap.
How is footage established on a buried run?
From the duct bank drawing or the cable schedule. Failing that, from the distance between manholes, measured along the route rather than in a straight line.
Do you buy CIC that is still in the ground?
Only after the owner has released it and the removal is planned. The lot starts when the conduit is exposed and the cable is accessible.
Send the duct drawing and the run lengths
Conduit type, diameter, section lengths and the cable legend at each end describe the lot. The removal plan decides the rest.