Excavation work shall be performed in accordance with the following regulations.
(A) Tunneling required under asphalt/concrete streets or sidewalks. It shall be unlawful to make any excavation in any portion of a street or sidewalk in the town which is paved with concrete or asphalt paving. Where necessary, and where a proper permit has been secured tunnels may be driven or excavated under any such pavement provided that upon completion of the work involved the tunnel shall be backfilled with compacted sand.
(B) Protection of utility pipes, cables and the like.
(1) No injury shall be done to any pipes, cables or conduits in the making of excavations or tunnels; and notice shall be given to the persons maintaining any such pipes, cables or conduits or to the Town Superintendent or officer charged with the care thereof, which are or may be endangered or affected by the making of any excavation or tunnel before such pipes, cables or conduits are disturbed.
(2) The permittee shall not interfere with any existing facility without the written consent of the Town Superintendent and the owner of the facility.
(3) If it becomes necessary to relocate an existing facility this shall be done by its owner.
(4) No facility owned by the town shall be moved to accommodate the permittee unless the cost of such work is borne by the permittee.
(5) The cost of moving privately owned facilities shall be similarly borne by the permittee unless it makes other arrangements with the person owning the facility.
(6) The permittee shall support and protect by timbers or otherwise 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.
(7) The permittee shall secure approval of methods of support and protection from the owner of the facility. In case any of said pipes, conduits, poles, wires or apparatus shall 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.
(8) 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.
(9) It is the intent of this division (B) that 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 town shall not be made a party to any action because of this division (B). The permittee shall inform itself as to the existence and location of all underground facilities and protect the same against damage.
(C) Protection of trees and shrubs. No unnecessary damage or injury shall be done to any tree or shrub or the roots thereof. 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 town department or town official having supervision of such property.
(D) Protection barriers and warning devices; advance placement.
(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 Town Council.
(3) Warning lights shall be flares, torches, lanterns, electrical markers or flashers used to indicate a hazard to traffic from sunset of each day to sunrise of the next day.
(4) Torches shall be open wick or flame flares or bombs generally used in connection with roadway repairs or construction and operating on kerosene or similar fluid. Lanterns shall burn kerosene or similar fluid, and have clear red or ruby globes.
(5) Electrical markers or flashers shall emit light at sufficient intensity and frequency to be visible at a reasonable distance for safety. Reflectors or reflecting material may be used to supplement, but not replace, light sources.
(6) The Town Council may restrict the use of lanterns or open flame devices in fire hazard areas.
(7) Warning signs shall be placed far enough in advance of the construction operation to alert traffic within a public street, and cones or other approved devices shall be placed to channel traffic, in accordance with the instructions of the Town Superintendent.
(E) Maintenance of vehicular and pedestrian traffic access.
(1) The permittee shall take appropriate measures to assure that during the performance of the excavation work, traffic conditions as near normal as possible are maintained at all times so as to minimize inconvenience to the occupants of the adjoining property and to the general public.
(2) 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.
(3) If any excavation is made across any public street, alley or sidewalk, adequate crossings shall be maintained for vehicles and for pedestrians.
(4) If any sidewalk is blocked by any such work, a temporary sidewalk shall be constructed or provided which shall be safe for travel and convenient for users.
(5) When traffic conditions permit, the Town Superintendent may by written approval permit the closing of streets and alleys to all traffic for a period of time prescribed by him or her, if in his or her opinion it is necessary.
(6) Such written approval may require that the permittee give notification to various public agencies and to the general public. In such cases, written approval shall not be valid until such notice is given.
(F) 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 bench mark within the town, shall not be removed or disturbed or caused to be removed or disturbed without first obtaining permission in writing from the Town Council so to do. Permission to remove or disturb such monuments, reference point or bench marks 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 town.
(G) Protection of gutters and drains. 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. The permittee shall make provisions to take care of all surplus water, muck, silt, slickings or other run-off pumped from excavations or resulting from sluicing or other operations and shall be responsible for any damage resulting from its failure to so provide.
(H) Protection of adjoining property; access.
(1) 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.
(2) Where, in the protection of such property, it is necessary to enter upon private property for the purpose of taking appropriate protecting measures, the permittee shall obtain consent from the owner of such private property for such purpose, and if he or she can not obtain such consent, the Town Superintendent may authorize him or her to enter the private premises solely for the purpose of making the property safe.
(3) The permittee shall, at his or her own expense, shore up and protect all buildings, walls, fences or other property likely to he 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.
(4) Whenever it may be necessary for the permittee to trench through any lawn area, the area shall be re-seeded or the sod shall be carefully cut and rolled and replaced after ditches have been backfilled as required in this chapter.
(5) 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.
(I) Protection of and access to fire protection devices and other vital structures. The excavation work shall be performed and conducted 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 Town Superintendent.
(J) Breaking through pavement. The following specific requirements shall govern to performance of work by a permittee which requires breaking through pavement.
(1) Saw cutting of Portland cement concrete may be required when the nature of the work or the condition of the street warrants. When required, the depth of the cut shall not be less than one inch in depth, but a greater depth may be required by the Town Superintendent. Saw cutting may be required by the Town Superintendent outside of the limits of the excavation over caveouts, overbreaks and small floating sections.
(2) Approved cutting of bituminous pavement may be required by the Town Superintendent to confine pavement damage to the limits of the trench.
(3) Sections of sidewalks shall be removed to the nearest score line or joint.
(4) Cutouts outside of trench lines must be normal or parallel to the trench lines.
(5) Pavement edges shall be trimmed to a vertical face and neatly aligned with the centerline of the trench.
(6) Unstable pavement must be removed over cave-outs and over-breaks, and the subgrade shall be treated as the main trench.
(7) Heavy-duty pavement breakers may be prohibited by the Town Superintendent when the use endangers existing substructures or other property.
(8) Boring or other methods to prevent cutting of new pavement may be required by the Town Superintendent.
(K) Maximum open length of trenches. The maximum length of open trench permissible at any time shall be in accordance with existing ordinances or regulations.
(L) Bracing of excavated areas. Proper bracing shall be maintained to prevent the collapse of adjoining ground; and in excavations, the excavation shall not have anywhere below the surface any portion which extends beyond the opening at the surface.
(M) Minimum depth of substructures.
(1) No person shall, without written permission of the Town Superintendent, install any substructure, except manholes, vaults, valve casings, culverts and catch basins, at a vertical distance less than:
(a) In a street, 24 inches below the established flow line of the nearest gutter, or 24 inches below the nearest outermost edge of the traveled portion of the street if there is no gutter;
(b) In a parkway, 16 inches below established gutter grade when the substructure parallels the parkway, or 12 inches below the top of the established sidewalk or curb when the substructure is at right angles to the parkway; or
(c) In other public places, 12 inches below the surface.
(2) However, nothing in this division (M) shall impose a duty upon the permittee to maintain specifications as required herein upon subsequent changes of grade in the surface unless the grade in the substructure interferes with the maintenance of, or travel on, a public street.
(N) Minimization of noise and dust. 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 take appropriate measures to reduce to the fullest extent practicable in the performance of the excavation work, noise, dust and unsightly debris; and between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. shall not use, except in case of emergency as herein otherwise provided, any tool, appliance or equipment producing noise of sufficient volume to disturb the sleep or repose of occupants of the neighboring property.
(O) Disposition 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 manner as not to endanger those working in the trench, or pedestrians or users of the streets, and so that as little inconvenience as possible is caused to those using streets and adjoining property.
(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 Town Superintendent.
(3) Whenever necessary, in order to expedite the flow of traffic or to abate the dirt or dust nuisance, toe boards or bins may be required by the Town Superintendent to prevent the spreading of dirt into traffic lanes.
(4) If the street is not wide enough to hold the excavated material without using part of the adjacent sidewalk, a passageway at least one-half of the sidewalk width shall be maintained along such sidewalk line.
(5) 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 Town Superintendent may require that the permittee haul the excavated material to a storage site and then re- haul it to the trench site at the time of backfilling.
(6) It shall be the permittee’s responsibility to secure the necessary permission and make all necessary arrangements for all required storage and disposal sites.
(1984 Code, § 5-1-3) (Ord. 494, passed 2-17-1976) Penalty, see § 96.999