Grounding connector

A grounding connector assembly, comprising:

• a grounding rod;
• a connector body engaged at a first end with the grounding rod and including, at a second end, a threaded portion extending in an axial direction, and a recess sized to receive one or more conductors, the recess opening out of the connector body in a lateral direction, relative to the axial direction;
• and
• a shear bolt engaged with the threaded portion of the connector body to secure the one or more conductors within the recess, a head of the shear bolt being configured to shear from a body of the shear bolt at a target compression force between the shear bolt and the one or more conductors to retain the one or more conductors within the recess.

A method of establishing a grounding connection, the method comprising:

• providing a connector body that includes a recess extending in an axial direction from a blind end, and an internal thread extending in the axial direction, at least a portion of the connector body defining a hexagonal cross-sectional profile, taken perpendicular to the axial direction, the recess opening to a lateral side of the connector body, relative to the axial direction, to define a lay-in entrance;
• inserting one or more conductors laterally into the lay-in entrance in an insertion direction that is transverse to the axial direction;
• moving the one or more conductors axially within the recess to seat the one or more conductors at a blind end of the recess;
• tightening a shear bolt into the internal threads of the connector body, including by engaging the shear bolt and the hexagonal cross-sectional profile of the connector body, to threadedly move the shear bolt in the axial direction to engage the one or more conductors within the recess;
• and
• further tightening the shear bolt to a shear torque, to shear a head of the shear bolt from a body of the shear bolt, the shear torque corresponding to a target compression force between the shear bolt and the one or more conductors so that the body of the shear bolt retains the one or more conductors at the blind end of the recess.