Public Safety Building: Physical Protection & Future Flexibility

The tough steel tube that protects the thin blue line.

Screenshot 2025 01 24 at 4.34.32 AM Public Safety Building: Physical Protection & Future Flexibility

“STEEL CONDUIT CAN REDUCE
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AT 60 HZ POWER FREQUENCY LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 95%.“

When DLZ Indiana Inc. was presented with the opportunity to provide the electrical design work for Indiana’s new public safety building in the city of East Chicago, there was no doubt in their mind that the power distribution system had to be encased in steel conduit to guard against electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The building is designed to accommodate a 911 emergency dispatch center, a police station with a detention wing, and an emergency medical service personnel group — all of which rely on sophisticated communications equipment.

The DLZ electrical design team knows from experience that steel conduit will shield against EMI by effectively reducing electromagnetic field (EMF) levels for enclosed power distribution circuits.

Their conclusions are supported by a research study conducted by Georgia Tech under the sponsorship of the Steel Tube Institute of North America. The study shows that steel conduit can reduce EMFs at 60 Hz power frequency levels by as much as 95 percent. The comparable reduction for aluminum conduit was just 10 percent; nonconductive, nonmetallic conduit was ineffective.

Steel conduit does two basic things. First, it reduces the EMFs created by electron flow through the conductors inside the conduit which can affect the performance of computers and other sophisticated electronic equipment. Second, it shields the conductors inside the conduit from being affected by external EMFs.

The most important consideration in the public safety building was to keep the high-power currents from affecting the very sensitive communications systems in the building.

Dr. Tim Raykovich is the owner of the building and the facility’s project manager. He also is an electrical engineer and a medical doctor. Consequently, the decision to install steel conduit throughout the building wasn’t a difficult one to make. The DLZ design team felt steel conduit above grade, as well as below the slab, was the right choice — and Dr. Raykovich readily agreed.

In fact, DLZ specifies rigid steel conduit even under a 6” or 8” thick concrete
slab to shield against EMI.

DLZ also specifies other system upgrades, like up sizing the branch circuit wiring, which may add up to a few more dollars spent, but the DLZ design team knows that it provides a much better building system in the end. Their goal is to design efficiency for today while ensuring that the building remains cost-efficient through the years.

When DLZ engineers a building, it aims to provide the owner with an 80-year life span. Including steel conduit in the building’s infrastructure is a key step in attaining that life span.

The engineering firm recognizes that the use of steel conduit may mean slightly higher initial costs, but they know the initial installed costs will be offset by significant savings in both life cycle and maintenance costs.

“IF CIRCUITS HAVE TO BE REPLACED OR ADDED, IT’S EASY TO PULL CONDUCTORS OUT OF CONDUIT AND REPLACE THEM. THAT’S A BIG ADVANTAGE OVER USING CABLE. “

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