[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town
of Dover 5-13-2003 by Ord. No. 14-2003.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person, persons, firm, firms or corporation shall cause to be made
or permit to be made any excavation in or upon any lands, streets, roads or
highways or any other place in the Town of Dover that:
A.
Is any deeper than four feet at any point; and/or
B.
Contains more than one foot of mud or water, or both,
unless such excavation is guarded by a person who shall be present continuously
and have full view of all such excavations; or
C.
A fence meeting the requirements of this chapter; or
D.
A steel plate of adequate thickness which completely
covers the excavation, adequately overlaps the edge of the excavation and
is capable of supporting the pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic that it would
be subject to in that particular location.
A.
Any fence proposed to guard an excavation shall be:
(1)
At least four feet in height; and
(2)
Constructed of suitable materials so as to be impassable;
and
(3)
Supported by iron posts firmly implanted in the ground,
or otherwise supported, so as to be immovable and not more than 10 feet apart;
and
(4)
Erected at a distance from the top of the excavation
at least equal to the depth of the excavation at that point; and
(5)
Must completely surround the excavation without any opening
therein or thereon.
B.
Said fence may be the fencing commonly called "snow fence"
or "cyclone fence."
A.
All excavations that take place within the right-of-way
of any street, road or highway, that are safeguarded by a method other than
steel plates as outlined above, shall, in addition to the above requirements,
be fully and adequately lighted with working warning lights between the hours
of sunset and sunrise and at such other times as may be deemed necessary by
the Town Engineer.
B.
Additionally, excavations within the right-of-way of
any street, road or highway may be safeguarded by means other than those required
by this chapter if same is approved by the Town Engineer prior to the excavation
taking place.
The provisions of this chapter shall also apply to excavations for foundations
for buildings and other structures.
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Construction
Official and/or the Town Engineer.
A.
Wherever any person, persons, firm, firms or corporation
shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter, the Construction Official
and/or the Town Engineer shall notify the person, persons, firm, firms or
corporation of said violation forthwith, by registered or certified mail or
by personal contact, and order the party to correct said violation by compliance
with the provisions of this chapter or by eliminating the excavation.
B.
Should such person, persons, firm, firms
or corporation fail to correct said violation within 24 hours after receiving
said notice, then the Town of Dover may proceed to correct said violation,
and such person, persons, firm, firms or corporation shall be liable for the
cost thereof.
Any person, persons, firm, firms or corporation who violates any provision
of this chapter or who fails to comply with the order of the Construction
Official and/or the Town Engineer to correct said violation shall, upon conviction
of such violation, be liable, for each offense, to a fine not exceeding $500
or imprisonment for a term of 90 days, or both.
