BS 7430:2011+A1:2015 BRITISH STANDARD

9.5.2 Plates
The approximate resistance to earth of a plate R in ohms (Ω) may be calculated
from:

R 5
ρ
4
Πp
A


where:
ρ is the resistivity of the soil (assumed uniform), in ohm metres (Ωm);
A is the area of one face of the plate, in square metres (m2).
Plates, if used, should be installed as small units of not greater
than 1.2 m × 1.2 m connected in parallel vertically and at least 2 m apart. The
minimum ground cover should not be less than 600 mm and ideally the
surrounding soil should be damp. Connections to the plate should be by copper
conductor, welded, riveted or otherwise attached with material that will not
cause corrosion at the joint. The finished joint should be covered with a heavy
coat of bitumen. The connecting strip to the above ground disconnection point
should be fully insulated to avoid electrolytic action
Where the plate is placed in a cut out slot, e.g. in a chalk bed near the surface,
the slot should be big enough to allow at least 300 mm thickness of soil or
other conducting low resistivity medium cover around the whole plate. This
requires careful assembly during installation to ensure that the bottom of the
plate is resting in the medium used and not on the chalk or high resistivity
substrata.
NOTE For conventional sizes, the resistance is approximately inversely proportional
to the linear dimensions, not to the surface area, i.e. a 0.9 m × 0.9 m plate has a

--``,`,`,`,,,,`,,,,,,,`,,`,,```,-`-`,,`,,`,`,,`---
resistance approximately 25% higher than a 1.2 m × 1.2 m plate.

9.5.3 Rod electrode

The resistance of a rod Rr in ohms (Ω) may be calculated from:

Rr =
ρ
2pL
F SD G
loge
8L
d
21

where:
ρ is the resistivity of soil, in ohm metres (Ωm);
L is the length of the electrode, in metres (m);
d is the diameter of the rod, in metres (m).
NOTE 1 Change of diameter has little effect on the overall value of resistance, and
the size is more governed by the mechanical strength of the rod to withstand being
mechanically driven when deep earth rods are required e.g. to depths of 20 m or
more.
A number of rods may be connected in parallel and the resistance is
approximately reciprocal to the number of rods employed, so long as the
separation is outside of the resistance area of each rod.

38 • © The British Standards Institution 2015

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