(A) Restoration required. The work to be done under a right-of-way permit issued and the restoration of the right-of-way as required must be completed within the dates specified in the permit. In addition to its own work, the permittee must restore or pay for the restoration of the general area of the work, and the surrounding areas, including the paving, its foundations and any special features, to its proper and required condition in accordance with the current standards and specifications for right-of-way restoration requirements, unless the director deems other or additional specifications must be utilized in order to secure proper restoration. Temporary restorations are required to restore surface or horizontal areas for safe passage or be marked and isolated until permanent restorations can be completed. Further, the permittee shall inspect the area of the work and use reasonable care to maintain the same condition for 24 months thereafter. During this 24 month period, the permittee shall, upon notification from the department, correct all restoration work to the extent necessary using the method required by the department. Such work shall be completed within the period of time allotted therefore as set forth in the notice from the department. If the permittee fails to restore the right-of-way in the manner and to the condition required by the department or fails to satisfactorily and timely complete all repairs required by the department, the city, at its option, may do such work or cause its contractor to do such work. In that event, the permittee shall pay to the city, within 30 days of billing, all costs incurred by the city in restoring the right-of-way.
(B) If special features in the right-of-way at a proposed excavation site, including, but not limited to, special sidewalk surfaces, heated sidewalks, underground vaults, areaways, and landscaping, cannot be preserved or protected, the city must be notified prior to the applicant beginning work.
(C) Parties taking out permits for excavations or obstructing any portion of the streets, alleys or the public rights-of-ways must comply with the following regulations at a minimum:
(1) On improved streets, the holder of the permit shall neatly saw cut the pavement, sidewalk or curb in a square or rectangular shape and to a width of 12 inches greater on all sides than the actual earth excavation, and shall remove all the excavated material and dispose of the same at a site designated by the city and to backfill the excavation with an approved soil. After thoroughly compacting the soil in eight-inch lifts, the permittee shall place and compact six inches of crushed stone base, replace the permanent pavement to meet city specifications, and shall barricade and protect the replaced pavement for the proper curing time.
(2) On unimproved streets, the work shall be done in all respects in the same manner as on improved streets. The top 12 inches of backfill shall consist of crushed stone.
(3) When a street opening is made between November 1 and April 1 of the next year, the permanent replacement of the pavement shall not be made until weather conditions permit the work to be done in a first-class workmanlike manner, unless other permission is granted by the Engineering Department.
(4) When the excavation is left over winter due to inclement weather, a temporary surface consisting of either a six-inch portland cement concrete patch, or a three-inch cold mix compacted asphalt patch shall be placed over the excavation area. The temporary patch shall be maintained in a smooth and level condition by the permit holder until weather conditions permit the replacing with the permanent paving.
(5) As soon as weather conditions are suitable, the holder of the permit shall replace any temporary pavement. The parties holding the permit must notify the Engineering Department at least 48 hours in advance of commencing the replacement work. The Engineering Department may then inspect the opening to determine that the backfill is properly settled and weather conditions are suitable for the replacement of the permanent pavement. The replacement shall not be done without approval by the Engineering Department of the personnel, equipment and materials which are to be used. The temporary surfacing shall then be removed and disposed of. The subgrade shall be re-compacted and graded. The pavement shall then be replaced according to city specifications. The work shall then be protected from traffic and the elements by barricades and flashing lights until properly cured. Concrete pavement surfaces must be protected for a minimum of three days from drying or from frost action by placing earth or burlap or curing compound over the exposed surfaces. A final inspection shall be made by the Engineering Department upon completion.
(6) If, in the opinion of the City Engineer, the permit holder does not have the equipment, materials or personnel to replace the permanent pavement in a proper workmanlike manner, the City Engineer may order the permit holder to employ, at the permit holder's expense, approved persons who are properly equipped to make the necessary replacement of the pavement.
(7) Each portland cement concrete pavement patch shall be stamped with letters which will identify the contractor responsible and shall be stamped with the date of the work. In the case of restored brick or asphaltic cement concrete pavements, each utility or contractor shall notify the Engineering Department of the location and date the work was done. All portland cement concrete patches must be constructed with Iowa Department of Transportation Class C-4 mix, or Class M-4 mix with calcium chloride or other accelerators if it is determined the road shall be opened to traffic within 24 hours after completion. All excavation restoration patches shall have a minimum thickness equal to the thickness of the surrounding pavement section.
(8) All restoration patches shall be constructed with like materials with respect to the surrounding pavement section. Restoration patches constructed in areas where composite pavement sections include both concrete and asphalt shall be constructed with a full depth concrete pavement section equal to the total thickness of the composite pavement section. For chip sealed streets, the restoration patch shall have a minimum surface of three inches of asphalt.
(9) The minimum restoration patch size for any street excavation shall be a five-foot square. The minimum distance from a pavement patch to an existing pavement joint shall also be five feet. Dowel bars and reinforcing steel shall be placed according to current Iowa Department of Transportation Standards. For certain concrete streets, the minimum excavation size shall be the entire concrete panel. On these concrete streets, no portion of any concrete panel may be excavated without excavating the entire panel. The City Engineering Department maintains a list of applicable concrete streets to these requirements.
(10) There may also be certain cases where the Engineering Department allows core holes to be filled with concrete doweled into the surrounding pavement in lieu of a full depth patch; in cases where full depth patching would be unreasonably unsafe to the traveling public, or in cases where the city street or alley is deemed in such disrepair that full depth patching would be unnecessary in the opinion of the city.
(11) If within 24 months after the replacement, the pavement and/or subgrade should fail and cause a traffic hazard, it will be the responsibility of the person who constructed the same to re-compact the subgrade and replace the pavement at the person's own expense.
(12) No person or his or her agent shall remove any stone or other mark made or set by the authority of the Engineering Department to designate any established corner, line or benchmark of the city. When it becomes necessary to have the same relocated for the purpose of opening any street or alley, a person shall request the Engineering Department to remove and replace the same. Upon receipt of the application, the Engineering Department shall remove and replace the stone, mark or other device as soon as practicable.
(13) The permittee shall perform the work in accordance with the city's specifications, unless the director deems other or additional specifications must be utilized in order to secure proper restoration. The City Engineering Department shall have the authority to prescribe the manner and extent of the restoration and may do so in written procedures of general application or on a case-by-case basis. The department in exercising this authority shall be guided by the following standards and considerations: the number, size, depth and duration of the excavations, disruptions or damage to the right-of-way; the pre-excavation condition of the right-of-way; the remaining life expectancy of the right-of-way affected by the excavation; whether the relative cost of the method of restoration to the permittee is in reasonable balance with the prevention of the accelerated depreciation of the right-of-way that would otherwise result from the excavation, disturbance or damage to the right-of-way; and the likelihood that the particular method of restoration would be effective in slowing the degradation of the right-of-way that would otherwise take place. Methods of restoration may include but are not limited to patching, replacement of the right-of-way base, and milling and overlay of the entire area of the right-of-way affected by the work.
(Ord. 2720, passed 2-28-2023)