By Patrick Greeley
This week’s Silva Cell installation tip: Don’t forget about the street/site lighting when scheduling your Silva Cell installation.
Many of the projects I visit include a street or site lighting component. Often the bases for these light poles are located within the limits of the Silva Cell system and more often than not they need to be installed before the Silva Cells.
I’ve been to a number of projects where Silva Cell installations have had to be put on hold while electrical contractors scrambled to get their light pole bases installed ahead of the Silva Cells. This usually doesn’t work well for the Silva Cell contractor. Not only is there time lost waiting for the light pole bases to be installed, there is usually a certain amount of restoration of the sub-base and geotextile fabric required afterwards. To avoid getting caught in this situation, don’t forget about the street/site lighting and make sure the electrical contractor is aware of your upcoming installation well in advance.
In the event that the electrical contractor elects to wait until the Silva Cells are installed and augur or drill in the light pole bases afterwards, make sure to inform them about the geotextile fabric layer that is below the sub base aggregate. If the augur catches that geotextile fabric and pulls on it, the surrounding Silva Cells will be pulled along as well — similar to what happens when someone tries to pull a table cloth out from under a table full of dishes.
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