[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 3-3-1980; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
(a)
Required. No opening in any street, sidewalk or right-of-way shall
be made before first obtaining a street opening permit from the City's
public works department. All permits will be issued in accordance
with the provisions of Title 23, Chapter 307, §§ 3351
- 3359, 1964 Maine Revised Statutes Annotated, and as amended by Chapter
284, 1971, § 3360, annotated.
(b)
Winter permits. No street opening permit will be issued between November 15th in any one year and April 15th in the following year except for an extreme emergency. In the event of an emergency excavation grade flowable fill will be used to backfill the entire trench with the exception of the surface and the material used over the utility being repaired as outlined in § 17-69(b).
(c)
Fees. A fee for inspection (according to a fee schedule determined
by Council resolution) will be required for the issuance of a permit
to cover the costs of inspection and administration.
[Ord. of 4-16-1979; Ord. of 3-3-1980; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
(a)
By utilities. All subsurface work in connection with street openings
required by the various public utilities shall be performed by forces
of that particular utility concerned, or by an approved contractor.
The contractor shall replace the surface at the expense of the applicant.
(b)
By bonding individuals, persons, firms or corporations making an
excavation for an installation in connection with any new construction
or service renewal may upon proof of bonding, complete all street
repairs.
(c)
Prior to any work to be done in the City's rights-of-way 24
hours' notice will be given to the City's local dispatch
the director of public works or his appointed representative on work
to be performed. With the exception of emergency's where notice
must be given to local dispatch immediately before the commencement
of any work, and notice to the director the next business day.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 3-3-1980; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
Utilities and contractors will be charged 50% of 1% of the total
cost of the project but not less than $50 and not more than $10,000.
In the event of multiple contractors (subcontractors) they will also
be required to apply for road opening permits.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 3-3-1980; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
If the City finds the applicant's replacement of any backfill
or surface pavement unsatisfactory within a five-year period from
the accepted date of completion, the applicant shall be notified to
completely re-excavate and repair the roadway surface at their expense
within 10 days. In the event the applicant fails to comply, the City
shall completely re-excavate and replace surface. When the City does
this work, the applicant shall be billed for the actual cost of time
and materials.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
(a)
Backfilling. The trench or opening shall be backfilled with the same
material that was removed from the trench to within 18 inches of the
existing pavement except as may be hereinafter provided. The top 18
inches of the trench shall be filled with approved five inch minus
gravel; provided, however, that not more than 18 inches of gravel
is under existing pavement. In this latter event an equal amount must
be replaced. If a permit is issued during the winter time the excavated
material shall be removed and replaced, this frozen material shall
not be replaced in the trench but shall be removed from the area and
disposed of and the excavated area backfilled with excavation grade
flowable fill. If the material excavated contains too much moisture
for proper compaction, it shall be removed and replaced with suitable
backfill material.
(b)
Tamping backfill. All backfilling shall be thoroughly tamped or compacted
either by hand tamping or power tampers. The first six inches of fill
over the structure or pipe in the trench shall be hand tamped. The
balance of the filling shall be thoroughly tamped and, if powered
hand tampers are used, the backfill material may be placed in 10 inch
layers and thoroughly compacted. Puddling of the backfill will not
be permitted except by special permission from the director or his
designated person. All backfill shall meet at least 95% of total compaction
as measured by modified Proctor test and submitted to public works
director or appointed individual. Testing shall be done and documented
by modified proctor test every 18 inches of depth to include one at
the surface and every 50 feet of trench length. The contractor (permitted)
also reserves the right to use an excavation grade flowable fill of
95% on placement in lieu of excavated material. If flowable fill is
used for entire backfill modified proctor testing and documentation
would be waived. If flowable fill is used to backfill any pipe water
valve or other relative utilities first must have at least 12 inches
of compacted sand placed over the top of utility and flowable fill
placed to the bottom of the surface material. The permitted opening
must then be protected for not less than 12 hours after being placed.
And the surface material placed immediately following. There will
be no surface paving done in temperatures below 40° F. unless
the Director has given prior approval.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
(a)
Hot asphalt paving on rigid base. When an opening is made on a street
where the surface is cement concrete, premixed surface of tar or asphalt
or granite block on a concrete base, the concrete shall be cut back
at least 12 inches beyond the edges of the trench after the backfilling
has been completed and before the new concrete patch is replaced.
All reinforcing steel encountered when removing the concrete shall
not be cut off but shall be retained and used for reinforcing in the
new concrete when placed. In addition to the retained reinforcing,
additional reinforcing steel shall be furnished to provide the equivalent
of 1/2 inch steel rods on 12 inch centers both ways in the new concrete
patch. The thickness of the concrete in the new patch shall be at
least four inches thicker than the existing concrete and the top surface
of the concrete in the patch shall be furnished to conform to the
surface of the old concrete. The new concrete shall be protected from
all traffic for not less than seven days after being placed. Where
granite block is encountered under the paving, these blocks shall
be removed and the area replaced with concrete in accordance with
the requirements above described. After the concrete has been placed
and before the permanent paved surface is put back, the new surface
pavement shall meet the current MDOT specifications for bituminous
surfacing asphalt and the trench shall be enlarged at least 12 inches
on all sides forming a "T" joint, the edges of the old paving painted
with an asphaltic liquid before the new paving is put in place. Any
street opening (including sidewalks) requiring lateral work shall
be no less than five feet wide when resurfacing is complete. Alternative
practices may be suitable under this section with prior approval from
the public works director.
(b)
Bituminous paving on flexible base. When a street opening permit is issued on a street which has been constructed for heavy traffic and has a bituminous surface without a cement concrete base, the same amount of gravel and/or crushed rock shall be replaced in the trench as is removed when the excavation is made where this material exceeds the eighteen-inch depth as specified in § 17-69(a). When crushed rock is encountered directly below the bituminous pavement, a like amount of crushed rock shall be replaced and this crushed rock shall be penetrated with an approved liquid asphalt at the rate of at least one gallon per square yard before the permanent surface is replaced. The existing pavement shall be enlarged at least 12 inches on all sides and the edges painted with an asphaltic liquid that meets specifications outlined in § 17-70(a) before the new paving is placed and increased to a thickness comparative to what already exists, but not less than five inches. At no time will surface paving be done at temperatures below 40° F. unless the director has given prior approval.
(c)
Temporary surfacing. On all streets where a permanent pavement has
been built, the permanent surface shall be replaced after the trench
has been properly backfilled except that when openings are authorized
after November 1st in any one year, a temporary surface of premixed
bituminous material shall be used and this temporary patch shall remain
until the following year when the permanent surface shall be replaced.
On all other streets, the trench shall be patched with premixed bituminous
material as soon as the backfilling has been completed, and the joints
between the old and the new material shall be sealed to prevent surface
water from penetrating through the joint. In all cases whenever or
wherever a street opening has been made in any road, street or sidewalk
having a permanent or semi-permanent surface, the edges of the pavement
shall be squared up before the permanent patch is replaced.
(d)
New construction. Where new private construction is in progress and
excavation in the street is required for sewer connections, underground
electric and/or telephone service lines, the work shall be performed
by an approved contractor, including the excavation and backfilling
and the contractor shall place a temporary patch over the excavated
area immediately upon completion of the backfilling. The permanent
surface shall be replaced by the public works department.
(e)
Repair and renewal work. For all excavations within the street or
right-of-way limits required to repair or replace existing installations
by individuals other than the utilities companies, the excavation
and repair work shall be accomplished by a private contractor. The
surface shall be replaced by the public works department at the expense
of the owner or applicant.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
All applicants for a street opening permit shall notify the
public works director 24 hours before a street opening is ready for
backfill, and the director or his designated representative shall
have the right to and it shall be his duty to inspect said street
opening and be present to continuously inspect the backfill and street
surface restoration procedure. No backfill material, base material
or surface material shall be placed in the opening until 24 hours
after aforesaid notice has been given. Neither such inspection nor
anything else contained in this chapter shall relieve the applicant
from the duty to remedy any defect in such restoration of the opening
as may then or thereafter appear or from any other liability for such
defects.
[Ord. of 4-16-1973; Ord. of 3-3-1980; Ord. of 6-15-1992; Ord. of 6-2-2003]
Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this article shall be subject to the penalties and provisions of § 1-8. Any person, firm or corporation, who shall fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this article, or any amendments thereof, shall not hereafter be granted another permit to excavate in any City street or road without the prior approval of the City Council. The fines for penalties shall be in addition to fees levied for work performed by the City.
[Ord. of 3-3-1980]
(a)
Required. Each and every plumber, contractor, excavator or person,
firm or corporation or property owner himself, will be required to
secure a license issued by the City Clerk before he will be permitted
to do any work in the City insofar as this chapter is concerned. The
initial fee shall be $15 renewal annually for a fee of $5.
(b)
Bond. As part of the application for a license to do work in the
City under this chapter, the applicant may be required to present
a license bond written by an indemnity or bonding company lawfully
doing business in the State of Maine in a form provided by the City
engineer.
