(A) Protective measures and routing of traffic.
(1) It shall be the duty of every person cutting or making an excavation in or upon any public place to place and maintain barriers and warning devices necessary for safety of the general public.
(2) Barriers, warning signs, lights and the like, shall conform to the requirements of the county and the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and all other applicable industry standards.
(3) The permittee shall take appropriate measures to ensure that during the performance of the excavation work, traffic conditions, as near as possible, shall be maintained at all times so as to minimize inconvenience to the occupants of the adjoining property and to the general public.
(4) When traffic conditions permit (as determined by the County Engineer), the county may, by written approval, permit the closing of streets and alleys to all traffic for a prescribed period of time. The written approval of the county may require that the permittee give notification to various public agencies and to the general public, and in such cases, such written approval shall not be valid until such notice is given.
(B) Clearance for vital structures. The excavation work shall be performed and conducted so as not to interfere with access to fire hydrants, fire stations, fire escapes, water gates, underground vaults, valve housing structures and all other vital equipment as designated by the county.
(C) Protection of traffic. The permittee shall maintain safe crossings for two lanes of vehicle traffic at all street intersections where possible, and safe crossings for pedestrians at intervals of not more than 300 feet. If any excavation is made across any public street, alley or sidewalk, adequate crossings shall be maintained for vehicles and for pedestrians. If the street is not wide enough to hold the excavated material without using part of the adjacent sidewalk, an alternate pedestrian passageway shall be provided as close as practicable.
(D) Relocation and protection of utilities.
(1) The permittee shall not interfere with any existing facility without the written consent of the owner of the facility. If it becomes necessary to relocate an existing facility, this shall be done with written consent by its owner. No facility owned by the county shall be moved to accommodate the permittee unless approved by the county and the cost of such work be borne by the permittee. The cost of moving privately-owned facilities shall be similarly borne by the permittee, unless the permittee makes other arrangements with the person owning the facility.
(2) The permittee shall support and protect all pipes, conduits, poles, wires or other apparatus which may be in any way affected by the excavation work, and do everything necessary to support, sustain and protect them under, over, along or across said work. The permittee shall secure approval of method of support and protection from the owner of the facility. In case any of said pipes, conduits, poles, wires or apparatus should be damaged, and for this purpose pipe coating or other encasement or devices are to be considered as part of the substructure, the permittee shall promptly notify the owner thereof. All damaged facilities shall be repaired by the agency or person owning them and the expense of such repairs shall be charged to the permittee.
(3) It is the intent of this division (D) that the permittee shall assume all liability for damage to facilities and any resulting damage or injury to anyone because of such facility damage and such assumption of liability is a contractual obligation of the permittee. The only exception will be such instances where damage is exclusively due to the negligence of the owning utility. The county shall not be made a party to any action because of this division (D). The permittee shall inform itself as to the existence and location of all underground facilities and protect the same against damage.
(E) Protection of adjoining property. The permittee shall at all times and at his or her own expense preserve and protect from injury any adjoining property by providing proper foundations and taking other measures suitable for the purpose. Wherein the protection of such property it is necessary to enter upon private property for the purpose of taking appropriate protective measures, the permittee shall obtain permission from the owner of such private property for such purpose. The permittee shall, at its own expense, shore up and protect all buildings, wells, fences or other property likely to be damaged during the progress of the excavation work and shall be responsible for all damage to public or private property or highways resulting from its failure properly to protect and carry out said work. Whenever it may be necessary for the permittee to trench through any lawn area, bald areas shall be resodded or the sod shall be carefully cut and rolled and replaced after ditches have been backfilled as required in this subchapter. All construction and maintenance work shall be done in a manner calculated to leave the lawn area clean of earth and debris and in a condition as nearly as possible to that which existed before such work began. The permittee shall not remove, even temporarily, any trees or shrubs which exist in parking strip areas without first obtaining the consent of the appropriate county department or county official having control of such property.
(F) Care of excavated material.
(1) All material excavated from trenches and piled adjacent to the trench or in any street shall be piled and maintained in such a manner as to not endanger those working in the trench, pedestrians or users of the streets, and so that as little inconvenience as possible is caused to those using streets and adjoining property. Where the confines of the area being excavated are too narrow to permit the piling of excavated material beside the trench, such as might be the case in a narrow alley, the County Engineer shall have the authority to require that the permittee haul the excavated material to a storage site and then rehaul it to the trench site at the time of backfilling. It shall be the permittee’s responsibility to secure the necessary permission and make all necessary arrangements for all required storage and disposal sites. All excavation work shall meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
(2) All material excavated shall be laid compactly along the side of the trench and kept trimmed so as to cause as little inconvenience as reasonably possible to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, or as specified by the County Engineer. Whenever necessary, in order to expedite the flow of traffic or to abate the dirt or dust nuisance, toe boards or bins or other approved devices may be required to prevent the spreading of dirt into traffic lanes.
(G) Cleanup. As the excavation work progresses, all streets shall be thoroughly cleaned of all rubbish, excess earth, rock and other debris resulting from such work. All cleanup operations at the location of such excavation shall be accomplished at the expense of the permittee. From time to time, and in any event, immediately after completion of said work, the permittee shall, at his or her own expense, clean up and remove all refuse and unused materials of any kind resulting from said work.
(H) Protection of watercourses.
(1) The permittee shall maintain all gutters free and unobstructed for the full depth of the adjacent curb, and for at least one foot in width from the face of such curb at the gutter line. Whenever a gutter crosses an intersecting street, an adequate waterway shall be provided and at all times maintained.
(2) The permittee shall make provisions to take care of all surplus water, mulch, silt, slicking or other runoff pumped from excavations or resulting from sluicing or other operations and shall be responsible for any damage resulting from its failure to so provide.
(I) Breaking through pavement and backfilling.
(1) Permit required. Any pipe, cable, structure or facility to be constructed on, in or through any of the roads which have been conditionally or finally accepted by the county will be permitted only after the applicant has obtained a written permit from the county. Pipes or cables may be required to be augured, pushed, tunneled or jetted under the roadway by the County Engineer in cases where the road has not yet been accepted by the county or when the facility has been accepted for less than two years. Open cutting of any road which has been surfaced with bituminous concrete, or rigid concrete paving, is prohibited, except with the written permission of the County Engineer.
(2) Supervision required; procedures. Backfill, repair and replacement of all excavations within the county right-of-way will be done under the direct supervision of the County Engineer.
(a) Open cuts. Open cuts through paved roadways when permitted will be accomplished as follows.
1. Cutting and removing. The pavement shall be saw cut vertically along the lines forming the trench in such a manner as not to damage the adjoining pavement. The portion to be removed shall be broken up so as not to damage the pavement outside the limits of the trench. Any pavement damaged outside the limits of the trench shall be replaced at the contractor’s expense. All waste material resulting from the above operations shall be immediately removed from the site of the work and disposed of.
2. Backfill procedure at pipe zone. Selected approved backfill material shall be deposited and compacted in the trench simultaneously on both sides of the pipe in an eight-inch layer for the full width of the trench and to an elevation of at least 12 inches above the top of the barrel of pipes.
3. Backfill procedure above pipe zone. Succeeding layers of backfill in pipe trenches may contain coarser materials placed and compacted in horizontal layers not over eight inches thick and the full width of the trench.
4. Backfill materials. Backfill should consist of selected sands, gravels or other suitable material approved by the County Engineer.
a. Where consolidation of cohesionless free draining materials, such as sands and gravels, is performed by a hand or mechanical tamper, the material shall be deposited in horizontal layers across the length or width of the embankment, not more than six inches thick after being consolidated.
b. Where saturation and immersion type vibration methods are used, the thickness of the layers being consolidated shall not exceed the penetration length of the vibrating head. Consolidation of embankments may be performed by treads of a crawler type tractor or tamping roller, internal vibrators, power tampers or other equipment approved by the County Engineer may be used for consolidating backfills where hand methods are specified.
c. During a consolidation operation, the material shall be wetted thoroughly throughout the entire layer. If the material is not wetted for proper compaction, the consolidation operation shall not proceed until such time as proper wetting is secured. Where saturation and internal vibration methods are used, saturation may be accomplished by water jets, puddling, flooding or by any other method that will provide suitable saturation when vibration is begun.
d. Immersion type vibrators shall be of adequate power to consolidate the mass to the required density. If water jets are used, the vibrator shall be removed from the mass immediately after the jet is removed. The relative density of the consolidated material shall be not less than 95% as determined by ASTM 1557.
(b) Temporary pavement. Where pavement is to be restored or rebuilt over a trench section, the upper one foot of the trench excavation shall be backfilled with road base material and maintained in a smooth condition until the permanent pavement is built. Cold mix for temporary surface may be used.
(c) Untreated base course (UBC). UBC shall meet minimum standards of the American Public Works Association (APWA), as approved by the County Engineer.
(d) Rigid concrete pavement. Concrete pavement, sidewalk and curb and gutter removed in the line of work shall be replaced with approved concrete. The new slab shall be as thick as the original slab, but not less than eight inches in the case of street pavement, and no less than four inches in the case of sidewalk. Curb and gutter shall be replaced to match the original design. Slabs shall be wood float finished or to match the existing pavement. Expansion joints shall be installed at the same locations as in existing pavement.
(e) Hot mix asphalt (HMA). Plant-mixed bituminous paving shown on plans or removed in the line of work shall be manufactured and placed in the manner prescribed by current APWA standards approved by the County Engineer. Trench patches shall be t-type patches, in accordance with APWA standards approved by the County Engineer.
(f) Damaging 50% of street surface. When 50% or more of the existing street surface is damaged and/or removed during the course of any work thereon, the contractor responsible for such damage or removal will be required to remove the remainder of the hard surfacing and replace with all new material in accordance with the specifications. The County Engineer will determine when 50% or more of the road surface has been damaged. Failure to comply will result in non-release of the deposited financial guarantee, or other legal action when necessary.
(g) Winter patching hard-surfaced streets.
1. When hard-surfaced streets are cut into during winter conditions, a temporary cold mix surface, a minimum of two inches thick, shall be placed and compacted. Unfavorable conditions for placing asphalt paving will be determined by the County Engineer.
2. Whenever weather conditions are favorable for placing asphalt surface, the contractor will remove the temporary surface and replace the asphalt in accordance with these specifications.
(h) Standards and specifications. These standards and specifications provide only the basic information. If the item under question or a construction procedure is not thoroughly outlined in these documents, the contractor and/or subdivider shall contact the County Engineer in writing for his or her interpretation of, or specification for, the specific item in question.
(J) Noise, dust and debris. Each permittee shall conduct and carry out excavation work in such manner as to avoid unnecessary inconvenience and annoyance to the general public and occupants of neighboring property. The permittee shall not perform excavation work or create noise, dust and unsightly debris between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., without approval from the County Commission, subject to emergency excavations described in § 150.07 of this code which does not require construction work preapproval.
(K) Preservation of monuments. Any monument set for the purpose of locating or preserving the lines of any street or property subdivision, or a precise survey reference point, or a permanent survey benchmark within the county, shall not be removed or disturbed or caused to be removed or disturbed. Permission to remove or disturb such monuments, reference points or benchmarks shall only be granted upon condition that the person applying for such permission shall pay all expenses incident to the proper replacement of this monument by the Building Inspector.
(L) Prompt completion of work. After an excavation is commenced, the permittee shall prosecute with diligence and expedition all excavation work covered by the excavation permit and shall promptly complete such work and restore the street to its original condition, or as near as may be, so as not to obstruct the public place of travel thereon more than is reasonably necessary.
(Prior Code, § 6-1-4) (Ord. 11-12, passed 10-4-2011)