During the installation of cathodically protected underground systems, the anode lead wires and monitoring wires should be:

During the installation of cathodically protected underground systems, it is crucial that the anode lead wires and monitoring wires are back filled with care and left slack. This allows for necessary movement during soil settling and reduces the risk of damage to the wires. If the wires are tightly secured, any movement or settling of the soil could create stress on the connections, potentially leading to failures in the cathodic protection system.

Leaving the wires slack also provides flexibility for future maintenance and adjustments. If there is no slack, it may be difficult to access or modify the system without having to excavate the area, which can be time-consuming and costly. Taking the care to properly backfill while ensuring a bit of slack in the wires helps maintain the integrity of the cathodic protection installation.

In contrast, tightly securing the wires could inhibit necessary movement, bundling them together could lead to complications in heat dissipation or physical damage, and checking for continuity, while important as part of a maintenance procedure, is not directly related to the initial installation process in the same context.