[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
No person, firm or corporation, including public-service companies,
which, for the purpose of this article, are deemed such as Verizon,
PSE&G, Suffolk County Water Authority, private (nonmunicipally
owned) water companies and municipal districts and cable television
companies, shall make any excavation in any street, highway or sidewalk
in the Incorporated Village of the Branch for any purpose without
first obtaining a permit therefor from the Superintendent of Highways
of the Village of the Branch as hereinafter provided.
A.
Application for a permit, in writing, shall be filed with the Superintendent
of Highways upon application blanks which he shall provide or in such
other manner as he shall prescribe, which application shall state
the nature, location, extent and purpose of the proposed excavation.
B.
Applications by public-service companies, excluding municipal districts,
must be accompanied by a general undertaking in such form as may be
approved by the Board of Trustees. The said general undertaking is
tendered to assure that after completing the excavation the said applicant
shall leave the street, highway or sidewalk, pavement, curb or gutter
in the same condition as it was prior to the excavation.
C.
Applications by applicants other than public-service companies or
municipal districts must be accompanied by a minimum cash deposit
as determined by the Board of Trustees, which is to be deposited with
the Village Clerk, to assure that after completing the excavation
the applicant shall leave the street, highway or sidewalk, pavement,
curb or gutter in the same condition as it was prior to the excavation.
In the event that the applicant fails to repair or replace such pavement,
sidewalk, curb or gutter within the time provided in the permit, the
Superintendent of Highways shall assess the damage and report the
same to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees may thereafter
order the contractor to pay to the Superintendent of Highways, out
of the moneys deposited, a sufficient sum of money to repair or replace
the street, highway or sidewalk, pavement, curb or gutter. In the
alternative, the Superintendent of Highways may contract with the
applicant for the Highway Department to complete the pavement, sidewalk,
curb or gutter for a mutually agreed upon sum. Where it is estimated
that the work involved will exceed a sum to be determined by the Board
of Trustees, then the applicant must make an additional cash deposit
of 10% of the cost of the estimated work in excess of the sum. Upon
the completion of the excavation, moneys deposited hereunder are to
be returned to the applicant, provided that all or part have not been
expended pursuant to this subsection.
[Amended 3-9-2004 by L.L. No. 1-2004]
D.
Upon compliance with the foregoing requirements, a permit shall be
issued in the name of the Superintendent of Highways of the Village
of the Branch.
[Amended 3-9-2004 by L.L. No. 1-2004]
Each applicant must pay a fee, as determined by the Board of
Trustees, to the Highway Department for each excavation except those
for utility poles.
A.
The applicant shall file with the Superintendent of Highways a general
liability insurance policy or certificate of insurance naming the
Village of the Branch as an additional insured at the same time he
files his application for a permit. The Board of Trustees shall approve
the policy for form.
B.
The policy shall insure the Village of the Branch and the applicant
and shall cover all operations relative to the excavation and reconstruction
thereto. Said policy shall have limits of liability of $100,000 for
bodily injury to each person and aggregate liability of $300,000 for
each accident; and property damage liability of $5,000 for each accident
and aggregate property damage liability of $25,000.
C.
In lieu of the aforesaid liability insurance, public-service companies
may submit a general undertaking in such form as is approved by the
Board of Trustees.
The Superintendent of Highways may require any person making
a highway excavation pursuant to a permit granted hereunder to give
notice of such excavation to public-service companies or municipal
districts having lines, mains or other property in the streets, and
when such notice shall have been required, no work shall be commenced
or done under such permit until such requirement of notice has been
fully complied with to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Highways.
Any person making an excavation covered by this chapter shall
erect suitable barriers or guards for the protection of persons using
the streets or sidewalks, and in addition thereto shall set up and
maintain during the hours of darkness sufficient lights or flares
to properly illuminate the area, and shall also take all necessary
precautions for the protection of the property of the Village and
of public-service companies or municipal districts and others which
may be endangered by such excavations or the work incident thereto,
and shall comply with all directions given by the Superintendent of
Highways with respect to such barriers, lights, flares and protective
measures.
A.
Commencement of work. Work under the permit shall be commenced within
30 days from the date of the issuance of the permit and continued
in an expeditious manner, unless extension of this period is approved
by the Highway Superintendent.
B.
Construction.
(1)
When work is being performed on any Village road, no pavement cuts
or trenches are to be left unfilled overnight, except in emergencies,
and in such cases adequate precautions must be exercised to protect
traffic.
(2)
When working on any Village road, contractors must complete final backfilling (see Subsection D hereof) of a trench within 18 days from the time of opening.
(3)
All pipes or mains crossing highway pavements shall, wherever possible,
be driven beneath the roadway without disturbance to the pavement.
The point of driving shall not be less than five feet from the edge
of the pavement. Such crossover pipes shall, whenever possible, be
enclosed in sleeves or larger pipes so that repairs or replacements
may be made in the future without further disturbance of the roadway
pavement.
(4)
If the boring method in the driving of crossover pipes is found to
be impracticable, the representative of the Highway Department shall
be consulted to determine the manner of placing the pipe by the open-cut
method. This request is to be made in writing to the Highway Superintendent
and may be granted by the Superintendent upon such conditions as he
deems necessary and proper under the circumstances.
C.
Excavation: method and type of opening.
(1)
Openings in concrete roads shall have a minimum width of five feet.
(2)
No roads are to be tunneled, but pipes may be driven or trenched
across.
(3)
All openings are to be made either by pinwheel trenching machine
or hand labor, unless otherwise specified in the permit.
(4)
The highway pavement is not to be broken or undermined.
D.
Procedure for final backfilling. Clean fill shall be used and the
trench shall be compacted in twelve-inch lifts with either vibratory
soil compactors or suitable hydraulic compaction by water jetting
at three-foot intervals.
E.
Restoration of excavation; temporary patching. Upon completion of
the final backfilling, if final pavement replacing is not to be accomplished
within 20 days of opening, then the trench will be brought to within
two inches of the road level and then paved with two inches of asphaltic
concrete within 20 days of opening, which shall be placed as a temporary
surface in any pavement opening and shall be maintained to the same
grade as the adjacent pavement.
F.
Final pavement replacing.
(1)
Concrete. Minimum size replacements in concrete or asphalt on concrete
base shall be 10 feet by 10 feet, or as directed. In all cases if
the ten-by-ten-foot replacement is within five feet of a joint, the
replacement must extend to the joint. Concrete openings shall be saw
cuts and the mix shall be "High Early" 1:1:2 1/2.
(2)
Asphalt. The trench shall be compacted to within four inches of the
road surface; the existing asphalt surface shall then be cut back
at least 12 inches on either side of the undisturbed subgrade. At
the discretion of the Highway Superintendent, the contact surfaces,
the patched surfaces and/or adjacent pavement edges shall be painted
and sealed with approved bituminous and/or bluestone material before
or after placing the course of asphalt, which shall be four inches
of New York State Specification 1A hot plant mix. This course shall
be rolled with an eight- to ten-ton roller, and surface variations
in excess of 1/4 inch shall be eliminated or the pavement relaid.
(3)
If temporary patching is not accomplished, final pavement replacing
must be completed within 20 days of opening. If temporary patching
is accomplished as specified, then final pavement replacing must be
completed within 30 days of temporary patching or within such additional
time as may be authorized by the Highway Superintendent, at his discretion,
upon application.
G.
Shoulder areas. If the trenchwork is in the earthen shoulder of the roadway, then proper compaction as outlined in Subsection D above shall apply, with the addition of a covering of sod or grass seeding as specified by the Highway Department.
H.
Traffic control.
(1)
Maintenance and protection of traffic. Traffic is to be maintained
at all times during the progress of this work. Adequate signs, barricades
and lights, necessary to protect the public, shall be provided. Flagmen
to direct traffic shall be employed continuously during periods when
only one-way traffic can be maintained or when equipment is operated
back and forth across the pavement area.
(2)
No construction materials or equipment shall be left on the pavement
after working hours, nor shall any construction equipment or material
be placed in any manner or location that will obstruct highway or
railroad warning signs.
(3)
Barricades, whether in sidewalk or roadway area, shall have prominently
displayed, for police convenience, the address and telephone number
of someone available 24 hours a day who will reestablish same in an
emergency.
(4)
Access to adjacent properties shall be maintained.
I.
Notification. The applicant will be responsible for notifying the
Highway Department 24 hours prior to street opening and street closing.
Applicants shall notify the Superintendent of Highways when work has been completed, after which an inspection will be made by the Superintendent of Highways or his duly authorized agent, and upon approval of the work a release will be granted to the applicant. Until the granting of such release, the applicant shall remain liable for proper guarding and protection as provided in § 234-6.
