Conduit space recovery system
View Patent ↗Space in a conduit having at least one cable therein which is surrounded by a duct is recovered by longitudinally cutting the duct and removing the duct from around the cable. The duct may be pulled out of the conduit and past a blade to affect the cutting, or a blade may be pulled through the conduit to cut the duct while still in the conduit.
1. A method of recovering space in a longitudinally extending underground conduit having at least one active cable positioned within a longitudinally extending duct which is in the conduit comprising the steps of longitudinally cutting the duct with a cutting device located adjacent to the conduit, and removing the duct from around the active cable thereby recovering space in the conduit while maintaining the active cable in the conduit.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of cutting and removing are done generally simultaneously.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of cutting includes the step of moving the duct past a blade.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of moving includes the step of pulling the duct out of the conduit.