Patent ID: 7832088

Claim:
A method of providing a grounding system, comprising: a. providing a plurality of segmented ground rod shafts: b. inserting into the ground a first ground rod shaft having a mating end comprising a coupling surface bound by a first shaft diameter; c. coupling a second ground rod shaft to said first ground rod shaft, the second ground rod shaft having a mating end comprising a coupling surface bound by a second shaft diameter substantially equal to said first shaft diameter, said coupling comprising fitting a male-type coupling structure on one of the two coupling surfaces into a female-type coupling structure on the other of the two coupling surfaces without any portion of any coupling structure exceeding the radial dimension of either the first or second diameter, thereby reducing the force required to drive the plurality of shafts into the ground, increasing the conductivity between the ground and the shafts, reducing the need to insert any back filler substances, and reducing the chance that the shafts will be pushed back up out of the ground by fluctuating ground temperatures; d. inserting said second ground rod shaft into the ground; and e. repeating steps c and d until the inserted ground rod shafts together reach a predetermined desired length.