Earthing Manual Section E3

Soil Resistivity Measurements

Version: Author: Approver:

2 Nigel Johnson Patrick Booth

Date of Issue: Job Title: Job Title:

December 2006 Earthing Specialist Asset Manager

Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

Revision Log
Version: 2.0 Prepared by: Nigel Johnson Date: December 2006 Date: April 2006 Re-branded to E.ON Central Networks. Version: 1.0 Prepared by: Nigel Johnson New document issued.

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

CONTENTS E3.0
E3.1.1 E3.1.2 E3.1.3 E3.1.4 E3.1.5 E3.1.6

INTRODUCTION
Instruments Checks for other buried equipment Wenner Test Method Probes in areas of tarmac or concrete Problems with depth of probes Fluctuating results

4
5
5 5 6 8 8 8

E3.1 Wenner Method for Measuring Soil Resistivity at Primary/Grid sites

E3.2 One Rod Method for Measuring Soil Resistivity at Distribution Sites E3.3 Estimation of Soil Resistivity using Geological Survey Data

9 10

APPENDIX AE3.1 CHART FOR ONE ROD METHOD RESISTIVITY TEST APPENDIX AE3.2 CHART FOR WENNER TEST
Appendix AE3.3 - Wenner Soil Resistivity Field Sheet

12 13
14

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

E3.0 Introduction
1m cube The resistance to the earth of any earth electrode is influenced by the resistivity of the surrounding soil. This will depend to a large extent on the nature of the soil and its moisture content. Resistivity may change with depth, temperature, moisture content and can vary from place to place depending on the strata of the soil and rock formation. The soil resistivity figure will have a direct impact on the overall substation resistance and how much electrode is required to achieve the desired values. It will also influence separation distances between two adjacent earth systems (e.g. HV and LV earths at Hot distribution sites). The lower the resistivity, the less electrode is required to achieve the desired earth resistance value. It is an advantage to know the resistivity value at the planning Figure E3.1 Soil Resistivity stage as this gives a good indication of how much electrode is likely to be required. This section describes the different methods that can be used to determine the soil resistivity.

The resistivity of any material is defined as the electrical resistance measured between the opposite faces of a uniform 1m3 cube (See Fig E3.1). The accepted symbol is and is measured in ohm-meters (m). Typically soils can vary from a few ohm-meters for very wet loams up to thousands of ohm-meters for granite. Table E3.2 shows the values expected for a range of soil types together with examples of the likely resistance values for two types of electrode. In practice soil is very rarely homogenous and so the values indicted should be taken as a rough guide only. The Wenner (four terminal) test is the Company approved method for determining soil resistivity at Primary/Grid sites (see Section E3.1). The soil resistivity data can influence the chosen site location as well as the decision on the best type of earthing electrode system to be installed. For example, it helps to decide if its an advantage to drive rods to a greater depth or whether to increase the surface area by installing more buried tape. The survey can produce considerable savings in electrode and installation costs when trying to achieve the required resistance. If the results gained from the soil resistivity survey are unclear then soil modeling can be undertaken. With up-to-date techniques a fairly good and accurate soil model can be produced. Also core drilling usually associated with a Geo-Technical survey will give an accurate soil model and can be used to check measured soil resistivity results. Soil resistivity is also important in determining the separation distances between the HV and LV electrodes at Hot distribution substations. A Wenner test could be used but a simpler procedure has been developed for use at these sites. This is known as the one or driven rod method and gives an average value of soil resistivity (see Section E3.2). Once an electrode system is installed then the actual resistance value must be measured and recorded. If this falls short of the design value then additional electrodes will be required to rectify the problem.

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

E3.1 Wenner Method for Measuring Soil Resistivity at Primary/Grid sites

E3.1.1 Instruments
A four-terminal earth tester is required (see Table E4.1), equipped with four probes and connecting leads. The latter shall be mounted on reels for easy run-out and recovery and shall be checked for continuity and condition prior to use. The calibration of the instrument shall be checked before taking any readings, using the test resistors supplied with the instrument. Provision shall also be made for a laboratory re-calibration check of the instrument every year.

E3.1.2

Checks for other buried equipment

Before carrying out any testing, checks shall be made from other utility records, our own cable records and using radio detection equipment, for the presence of any buried cables, earth conductors or other metalwork. These could adversely affect the accuracy of the readings taken, particularly if they are parallel to the measurement route. Conventional metal detectors will only locate very large pipelines or objects close to the surface, so cannot be relied upon. Location equipment should be used in the inductive mode (to locate pipes which are not connected to the earthing system), and direct mode (to locate any pipes or cables bonded to the earth grid). For the latter, the transmitter is connected to the earthing system at the substation. The routes chosen should preferably be free of long buried metal pipes or lead sheathed cables etc., but if this is not possible the measurement route should be positioned at right angles to these items wherever possible. The route chosen should not be close and parallel to an overhead line. If the line supports are earthed, then this will adversely affect the readings. If the soil resistivity measurement leads are long and in parallel with an overhead line, then an induced voltage may occur in the leads should fault current flow through the overhead line. To avoid this, measurement routes should preferably be at right angles to overhead lines. If they must be in parallel, then a separation of 20m or more from the line is required.

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

E3.1.3

Wenner Test Method

Fig. E3.2 shows the general measurement setup. The four earth probes should be driven into the ground in a straight line, at a distance a metres apart and driven to a depth of P cm.

C1

P1

P2

C2

x y Depth P of test probes

Make sure any links are removed between the terminals on the tester Fig E3.2 Arrangement for the Wenner Test
The maximum depth of the probe should not exceed 20cm nor exceed 1/20th of the probe spacing distance a. A series of resistance readings are taken for various spacings of the probes. For large sites the maximum spacings are increased to enable the soil resistivity to be assessed at a greater depth. Table 3.1 shows the required spacings for various sites.

Table E3.1

Recommended probe spacing/depths for soil resistivity tests

Minimum recommended range of spacings for different substation types
Max. Probe depth P (cm) 5 5 10 10 15 15 20 20 20 20 20 Wood Pole 11kV GM Dist. S/S Locations Small 66/33 to 11kV S/S Towers, 132kV S/S & large sites

Spacing & Probe Depths

Probe Dist. X to Dist. Y to Soil Spacing Resistivity Voltage Current Depth d Probe a Probe (3/4 of a) (m) (m) (m) (m) 0.75 0.5 1.5 1 1.5 2 3 1 2.25 3 4.5 1.5 3.75 5 7.5 2.5 7.5 10 15 5 11.25 15 22.5 7.5 15 20 30 10 18.75 25 37.5 12.5 22.5 30 45 15 30 40 60 20 37.5 50 75 25

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

The four probes should be connected to the tester, with the outer probes connected to the C1 and C2 terminals, and the inner probes to the P1 and P2 terminals. The instrument should be kept in a central position and a series of resistance measurements made as the four electrodes are moved out in equal distances from the central point. A calculation is made to determine the average soil resistivity of all layers of soil between the surface and a depth d which is taken to be of the separation distance a. The meter should be left on to allow the built in filters to operate and the value after 30 seconds should be taken. If the reading is varying significantly, this may be due to : Electrical interference High contact resistance at the test probes Damaged test leads Reading at the lower limit of the instruments measuring capability

If, after investigating the above, the reading is still changing by more than 5%, then record a series of ten consecutive readings over an interval of few minutes, calculate the average and then proceed with the rest of the measurements. The apparent soil resistivity is then given by =2aR (m) where: a R = ground resistivity in m = 3.142 = electrode spacing in metres = measured resistance in at spacing 'a'

Appendix AE3.3 can be used as a field sheet to record the results and plot the apparent resistivity as the spacing is increased. Table AE3.2 can be used to look up apparent soil resistivities and is based on the above formula. Values that do not appear in the table need to be calculated individually. It is a good to plot the results at the testing stage as any wild variations could indicate the presence of buried metalwork that is distorting the results. If this is the case then a new test route should be found. An idealised plot can be seen in Fig E3.3 and in this instance shows a site where there is a high resistivity layer above a deeper lower resistivity layer.

Fig E3.3 Typical Soil Resistivity Plot

Soil resisitivity
450 400 350 300 Resistivity 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 20 Depth 25 30 35 40

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

At least two or three series of measurements, via routes perpendicular to one another should be taken, to allow interference and small local variation effects to be balanced out. If any readings were unstable, then additional routes will be necessary, possibly further away from the site. Note that it is important to ensure that measurements are symmetrical about point X midway between the voltage probes. An Excel spreadsheet Soil Resistivity Tests.xls has been developed to help interpret the results.

E3.1.4

Probes in areas of tarmac or concrete

In some cases, the required position for one of the inner voltage probes may coincide with an area covered with tarmac or concrete. Measurements can usually still be obtained by using a flat metal plate, of approximately 10 to 15cm square, placed on a cloth soaked with saline water, instead of the driven probe. A small weight on top of the plate will help to decrease contact resistance. The usual precautions concerning buried metal structures apply and the area where the plate is used should not contain reinforced steel which runs in the same direction as the measurement route, or the reading will be adversely affected.

E3.1.5

Problems with depth of probes

Despite suggestions to the contrary in many manufacturers publications, the test probes depth (P) need normally only need be inserted to a depth in the range of 5 to 20cm, as shown in Table E3.2. The outer (current) probes are required to have a reasonably low resistance to earth, sufficient to allow approximately 50mA to flow. However, if the surface soil is dry or frozen, the high contact resistance with the probe will restrict the flow of test current. To overcome this it is recommended that a short steel rod having a smaller radius than the test probe is driven into the soil to a depth of 20cm and removed. A weak solution of preferably warm, saline water is poured into the hole and the test probe re-inserted. If this does not provide a satisfactory reading, the probe may be driven in a little deeper. A better arrangement is a cluster of three to five probes positioned 25cm apart and connected together. Probe clusters are normally only required at long test spacings and would introduce an error if used at small spacings. It is very unusual to require probe depths of more than 30cm and precautions will be required to ensure that third party equipment or cables are not damaged if probes are driven to more than 20cm depth. Their installed depth should never exceed 1/20th of a.

E3.1.6

Fluctuating results

If there are large fluctuations in the measured values at one particular spacing, then it is likely that interference from buried cables/pipes or stray ground currents are present. Additional sets of readings must be taken at locations a few metres away. Having first discounted readings which are obviously incorrect, then the average resistivity value for each probe separation a is used to generate the soil model. It is important to note that measurements near the site will often be subject to interference from buried structures which will result in lower apparent readings than in undisturbed soil. This is why readings cannot be taken using this method within the area of an existing substation. Software programs are available for carrying out detailed calculations, based upon data from the above readings, to provide a best-fit, representative soil model for the area, consisting of a number of vertical or horizontal layers having different resistivity values.

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

E3.2 One Rod Method for Measuring Soil Resistivity at Distribution Sites
At Hot distribution substations it is necessary to segregate the HV and LV earths in accordance with sections E5.10.2 and E5.10.3. In order to do this the average soil resistivity value is required. This is a simpler test than the full Wenner test described above. The test is based on measuring the resistance of a single rod that is driven into the ground for a known depth. The resistance measurement and rod dimensions are then used to calculate the average soil resistivity required to produce the measured resistance. The resistance measurement can be made by using the 61.8% method described in Section E4.0.3.5. Using the formula for calculating the resistance (R) of a rod in uniform soil,

R=

8L ln 1 2L d

gives

2LR 8L ln 1 d

Where L is the length and d is the diameter of the rod, both in metres. The apparent resistivity to match the measured resistance is calculated or looked up from the table in Appendix AE3.1. For most distribution substations it is sufficient to drive the rod to a depth of 2.4m and use this reading as the average soil resistivity value. In difficult locations a 1.2m rod is acceptable but if it even this proves difficult to drive in, then its an early indication that there may be a high resistivity rock layer just be below the surface which could give problems achieving the desired electrode value. Once the average soil resistivity is known a separation distance between the HV and LV can be determined. It is a good idea to position the test rod so that it can be incorporated into the final earthing arrangement. Fig E3.4 shows the general arrangement for this test.

P2 31m 0.5m deep hole 5/8 dia 2.4m (or 1.2m) rod 50m

C2

Procedure:Measure rod resistance using 61.8% test (see Section E4.0.3.5) then use table in Appendix AE3.1 to look up soil resistivity value or to obtain soil resistivity value, multiply resistance reading by 2.45 for a 2.4m rod or 1.39 for a 1.2m rod

Fig E3.4 General Arrangement for One Rod Method at Distribution Sites
A further technique would be to take a series of measurements as the rod is driven into the ground at greater and greater depths. When the results are plotted out they could be useful in the following situations:-

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

(i)

to accurately locate the water table or low resistivity soil layers. The rod resistance will be seen to drop dramatically once this level is reached, assuming the surface material has a higher resistivity. This could influence the decision on whether to install deep drive electrodes or to install a horizontal electrode system. at primary and grid sites where readings using the Wenner method are not possible near to the substation. Rods may be driven into the ground even within the substation (once the area is proven free of buried cables/equipment). The results obtained are then used to verify or modify the soil model obtained via Wenner measurements at suitable locations outside the substation. On completion of the test the rod could be incorporated into the main earth grid if appropriate.

(ii)

The earth resistance of a rod will usually reduce as its driven depth is increased. The resistance of a rod should never increase with driven depth. It is the rate at which the resistance decreases with depth that allows the soil structure and layer resistivities to be determined. Soil structure where the deeper layer has a lower resistivity than the upper, will produce sudden changes in the gradient of the rods resistance curve. Where the top layer has a lower resistivity than the lower layers then the structure is more difficult determine, as the test current will tend to continue to flow in the top, lower resistivity layer. The resulting low current density in the higher resistivity layer has little influence on the measured resistance of the rod. Where a very high resistivity stratum is penetrated, the rod resistance may remain virtually constant with increasing depth. If a further lower resistivity layer is penetrated beneath this, then the rod resistance will again begin to decrease with increasing depth. The technique does suffer from the fact that the rod resistance is determined by conditions close to it and there is often a wide variation between rod resistances (of the same length) obtained at different positions around a site.

E3.3 Estimation of Soil Resistivity using Geological Survey Data

Whilst less accurate than direct measurement, geological data can given a reasonable indication as to the resistivity of the ground in a particular area. You may also find it useful to build up a data base of resistivity measurements from actual jobs. By using these two sources of information you can determine how much electrode to install at most job locations without the need for a preliminary survey. Of course you MUST MEASURE the actual resistances of the earth system after installation to confirm your predictions. In the short term the geological data can be obtained from the one inch series Solid and Drift edition geological survey maps published by: British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG. Tel. 0115 9363100 These maps are colour coded to show different underlying geological types and surface deposits such as clay and head. The following table gives typical resistivity ranges for a number of different ground types. This method shall not be used in isolation where extensive earth installations are going to be installed such as at primary and bulk supply point substations. Accurate soil resistivity measurements and soil modelling techniques are essential to the proper design process.
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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

However, geological information can be useful when short-listing possible sites. It may help you to choose a site with low earth resistivity instead of a site with high resistivity. Intelligent site selection can considerably reduce the cost of earthing and also remove/reduce the implications of creating a Hot Zone. Where the maps indicate very high soil resistivities such as limestone, granite, gritstone etc. it is recommended that a soil resistivity test is carried out as the cost to install the earth electrode could be a significant proportion of the cost of the overall job.

Table E3.2 - Typical soil resistivity values and likely electrode resistances For homogenous soil For homogenous soil Soil/Ground Type Typical Resistivity likely resistance of a likely resistance of 50m of a 70mm2 2.4m rod () (m)
Mercia Mudstone Coal Measures Loam Alluvium Boulder Clay Keuper Marl & Waterstones Head Sand/Gravel Limestone Pebble Beds Permian Limestone & Marl Gritstone 20 20 25 35 50 50 70 300 300 300 400 1000 8 8 10 14 20 20 28 120 120 120 160 400 earthwire() 0.8 0.8 0.9 1.3 1.9 1.9 2.6 11 11 11 15 38

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

Appendix AE3.1 Chart for One Rod Method Resistivity Test

Table to calculate soil resistivity using single rod technique described in Section E3.2 (assuming 5/8 dia. rod). Example: - 4.8m rod with resistance of 20 gives average soil resistivity of 89 m Length of Length of rod 1.2m 2.4m 3.6m 4.8m rod 1.2m 2.4m 3.6m 6m Resistance () Resistance () 1 1 2 3 4 5 56 78 138 195 2 3 5 7 9 11 57 80 141 198 3 4 7 10 13 16 58 81 143 202 4 6 10 14 18 21 59 82 146 205 5 7 12 17 22 27 60 84 148 209 6 8 15 21 27 32 62 86 153 216 7 10 17 24 31 38 64 89 158 223 8 11 20 28 36 43 66 92 163 230 9 13 22 31 40 48 68 95 168 237 10 14 25 35 44 54 70 98 173 243 11 15 27 38 49 59 72 100 178 250 12 17 30 42 53 64 74 103 183 257 13 18 32 45 58 70 76 106 188 264 14 20 35 49 62 75 78 109 193 271 15 21 37 52 67 81 80 112 198 278 16 22 40 56 71 86 82 114 203 285 17 24 42 59 75 91 84 117 208 292 18 25 45 63 80 97 86 120 213 299 19 27 47 66 84 102 88 123 218 306 20 28 49 70 89 107 90 126 223 313 21 29 52 73 93 113 92 128 228 320 22 31 54 77 98 118 94 131 232 327 23 32 57 80 102 124 96 134 237 334 24 33 59 83 107 129 98 137 242 341 25 35 62 87 111 134 100 140 247 348 26 36 64 90 115 140 102 142 252 355 27 38 67 94 120 145 104 145 257 362 28 39 69 97 124 150 106 148 262 369 29 40 72 101 129 156 108 151 267 376 30 42 74 104 133 161 110 153 272 383 31 43 77 108 138 167 112 156 277 390 32 45 79 111 142 172 114 159 282 397 33 46 82 115 147 177 116 162 287 403 34 47 84 118 151 183 118 165 292 410 35 49 87 122 155 188 120 167 297 417 36 50 89 125 160 193 125 174 309 435 37 52 91 129 164 199 130 181 321 452 38 53 94 132 169 204 135 188 334 470 39 54 96 136 173 210 140 195 346 487 40 56 99 139 178 215 145 202 359 504 41 57 101 143 182 220 150 209 371 522 42 59 104 146 187 226 155 216 383 539 43 60 106 150 191 231 160 223 396 556 44 61 109 153 195 236 165 230 408 574 45 63 111 157 200 242 170 237 420 591 46 64 114 160 204 247 175 244 433 609 47 66 116 163 209 253 180 251 445 626 48 67 119 167 213 258 185 258 457 643 49 68 121 170 218 263 190 265 470 661 50 70 124 174 222 269 195 272 482 678 51 71 126 177 226 274 200 279 495 696 52 73 129 181 231 279 205 286 507 713 53 74 131 184 235 285 210 293 519 730 54 75 134 188 240 290 215 300 532 748 55 77 136 191 244 296 220 307 544 765 Version: 2 Date of Issue: December 2006
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4.8m
249 253 258 262 266 275 284 293 302 311 320 329 338 346 355 364 373 382 391 400 409 417 426 435 444 453 462 471 480 489 497 506 515 524 533 555 577 600 622 644 666 688 711 733 755 777 799 822 844 866 888 910 933 955 977

6m
301 306 312 317 322 333 344 355 365 376 387 398 408 419 430 441 451 462 473 484 494 505 516 527 537 548 559 570 580 591 602 613 623 634 645 672 699 726 752 779 806 833 860 887 914 941 967 994 1021 1048 1075 1102 1129 1156 1182

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

Appendix AE3.2 Chart for Wenner Test

This table is to assist in determining soil resistivity using the Wenner technique in section E3.1 and is based on the formula = 2 a R. Values that fall outside this chart should be calculated individually. Example: -a spacing of 2m, with a resistance reading of 1 gives a soil resistivity value of 13 m
Rod Spacing a 1m 2m 3m 5m 10m 15m 20m 25m 30m 40m 50m

Measured Resistance () 1 0.1 1 0.2 2 0.3 3 0.4 3 0.5 4 0.6 4 0.7 5 0.8 6 0.9 6 1 13 2 19 3 25 4 31 5 38 6 44 7 50 8 57 9 63 10 69 11 75 12 82 13 88 14 94 15 101 16 107 17 113 18 119 19 126 20 157 25 188 30 220 35 251 40 283 45 314 50 346 55 377 60 408 65 440 70 471 75 503 80 534 85 565 90 597 95 628 100 942 150 1257 200 1885 300

1 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 25 38 50 63 75 88 101 113 126 138 151 163 176 188 201 214 226 239 251 314 377 440 503 565 628 691 754 817 880 942 1005 1068 1131 1194 1257 1885

2 4 6 8 9 11 13 15 17 19 38 57 75 94 113 132 151 170 188 207 226 245 264 283 302 320 339 358 377 471 565 660 754 848 942 1037 1131 1225 1319 1414 1508 1602 1696 1791 1885

3 6 9 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 63 94 126 157 188 220 251 283 314 346 377 408 440 471 503 534 565 597 628 785 942 1100 1257 1414 1571 1728 1885

6 13 19 25 31 38 44 50 57 63 126 188 251 314 377 440 503 565 628 691 754 817 880 942 1005 1068 1131 1194 1257 1571 1885

9 19 28 38 47 57 66 75 85 94 188 283 377 471 565 660 754 848 942 1037 1131 1225 1319 1414 1508 1602 1696 1791 1885

13 25 38 50 63 75 88 101 113 126 251 377 503 628 754 880 1005 1131 1257 1382 1508 1634 1759 1885

16 31 47 63 79 94 110 126 141 157 314 471 628 785 942 1100 1257 1414 1571 1728 1885

19 38 57 75 94 113 132 151 170 188 377 565 754 942 1131 1319 1508 1696 1885

25 50 75 101 126 151 176 201 226 251 503 754 1005 1257 1508 1759

31 63 94 126 157 188 220 251 283 314 628 942 1257 1571 1885

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Eathing Manual Section E3 Soil Resistivity Measurements

Appendix AE3.3 - Wenner Soil Resistivity Field Sheet

Spacing 'a' of electrodes (m) 1 2 3 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 Distance "x" to potential probes (m) 0.5 1 1.5 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 20 25 Distance "y" to current probes(m) 1.5 3 4.5 7.5 15 22.5 30 37.5 45 60 75 Max. Depth P of probes (cm) 5 10 15 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Resistance reading from Instrument R () Soil Resistivity Depth 'd' (m) (3/4 of 'a') 0.75 1.5 2.25 3.75 7.5 11.25 15 18.75 22.5 30 37.5 Average soil resistivity to depth 'd' (m) (see note below)

Note: -Average Soil resistivity () is based on the formula: - =2 a R (where = 3.142)

C1

P1

a x

P2

C2

Depth P of test probes Make sure any links are removed between the terminals on the tester

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