The following rules and regulations shall govern the excavation of streets in the city.
(a) Special care shall be taken to reference all city, federal, state, county or private property monuments encountered in the line of the work so that such monuments, if disturbed, will be correctly replaced upon completion of construction.
(b) No work shall be performed by the permit holder or his or her agents, or any excavation backfilled, covered or filled, except in the presence of an authorized or designated city inspector. The cost of such inspection shall be borne by the permit holder.
(c) City-owned or other publicly owned facilities, such as sewers, water lines or other facilities or structures, encountered during the work of construction, shall be carefully protected, at the cost of the permit holder, to prevent damage thereto.
(d) Should it become necessary to remove and replace or relocate such city or other public facilities, the work shall be done at the expense of the permit holder in accordance with specific plans and specifications presented by the permit holder and approved by the Engineer and the Mayor or his or her representative.
(e) Privately owned facilities encountered in the work shall be protected, removed, replaced or relocated by agreement between the owner of such facilities and the permit holder, at no expense to the city.
(f) When the material excavated from a trench is suitable for backfill, in the opinion of the City Engineer or the Director of Public Service, it may be used for that purpose. Otherwise, the excavated material shall be removed from the site of the work and replaced with sand; fine, clean gravel; or sand and gravel that is free from clay.
(g) In general, trenches excavated in tree lawn areas may be backfilled with the material excavated, except that where such material is shale or rock, sand or other suitable material shall be used. The backfill material shall be rounded over the trench and sufficiently higher than the adjoining ground surface, except as otherwise noted in this section, to allow for settlement.
(h) Where a trench passes through a regularly maintained lawn, the backfill material shall be thoroughly compacted to minimize settlement and the top portion brought to the grade of the existing lawn, after not less than three inches of topsoil has been applied, raked, rolled and seeded so that the finished area will be equal to the original lawn removed. In lieu of that process, the original sod may be carefully removed and stockpiled, and after the trench backfill is compacted, the sod may be replaced, seed added if necessary and rolled so that the lawn, as disturbed, is equal to the original.
(i) Where a trench lies in driveway, parking or other areas subject to traffic, the backfill material shall be sand, mechanically tamped, in not more than eight-inch layers, for the full depth of the trench. The material removed from the surface of such areas shall be replaced in kind and thoroughly compacted.
(j) A trench less than three feet from the back of a curb shall be mechanically tamped for the full depth of the trench.
(k) When the trench passes longitudinally or transversely through an asphaltic-type brick or concrete pavement, the backfill material shall be sand, mechanically tamped, for the full depth of the trench, in layers not more than six inches thick.
(l) Under certain conditions, as determined by the Engineer, bar reinforcement over a trench may be required in the base of brick pavements and in the lower third of concrete pavements.
(m) The surface course for any asphaltic-type brick or concrete pavement removed during the construction of the project shall be replaced in kind.
(n) Pipes, conduits or other facilities may be installed under roadways by jacking, boring or tunneling. If any of these three methods is to be used, the applicant for the crossing shall file with the city a plan showing how the work is to be done with particular reference to the manner in which backfill is to be placed around the carrying pipe or conduit or around an encasing pipe or structure. No work shall be done until such plan is approved by the Engineer.
(o) Every excavation or trench in any portion of a public right of way, whether a roadway, tree lawn or sidewalk area, and irrespective of the type of material with which such excavation or trench is backfilled, shall be filled or backfilled by mechanical tamping of the backfill or fill material. Any mechanical tamping equipment used shall be of a type approved by the Engineer.
(Ord. 76-O-39, passed 3-15-1976)