New Irrigation Boxes

We have been upgrading our irrigation system slowly over the last few years.  We have had the boxes in our shop and as time and money has allowed we have been replacing our old system. We had Toro network 8000 boxes with no hand held units before and we are putting in a Toro VP system.  The old boxes also had poor grounding.  As the new boxes go in we are adding grounding to each new box. The old boxes only had an 8 foot ground rod directly under the boxes. For the new boxes we are installing an 8 foot ground rod 8 feet from the box plus a 6 foot plate 16 feet from the box.  To perform this install all wires and irrigation lines must be located around each box, then a trench must be dug and everything laid into place. This new system should greatly reduce the amount of damage that we can receive in a lightning storm.  The new boxes will also help us to be more efficient when running water, we will also have the ability to run water from our radio. Here are a few pictures of the grounding being installed at one of the new boxes.