[Adopted 5-13-1975 by Ord. No. 221][1]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article was amended 6-12-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-03 to repeal "inconsistent parts … with respect to the fees, expenses or costs only permitted or outlined" herein and to provide that "sections, parts or subsections authorizing or permitting the charging of fees, expenses or costs" herein are amended to "permit changes in said fees, expenses or costs by resolution at any time by the Langhorne Borough Council."
A. 
The owner or owners of any lot or lots in the Borough of Langhorne fronting on any street or streets in said Borough upon which a grade heretofore or hereafter shall be established by ordinance shall, upon receipt of 30 days' notice from the Borough Council of the Borough of Langhorne aforesaid, curb and pave the sidewalks and gutters in front of and along the property owned by them on any such street or streets, in accordance with the provisions and specifications hereinafter contained and, upon failure of any owner or owners to comply with the provisions of this article, the said Borough of Langhorne shall enter upon and construct the curbing and paving and enter the cost thereof, together with 10% additional as a lien against said property.
B. 
The purpose of this article is to vest in the said Borough Council the full power and authority to require the owner or owners to pave and curb any streets or section of street in the Borough of Langhorne where the ordinance establishing the grade failed to specifically provide for the curbing and paving of the sidewalks and gutters along the same, as if such power and authority were contained in the original ordinance establishing grade on any such street or streets and to provide a uniform basis for paving, curbing any and all streets within said Borough upon which a grade has heretofore been or hereafter may be established by ordinance of the Borough Council aforesaid.
A. 
Hereafter all sidewalks and curbs laid within the Borough of Langhorne shall be constructed in the manner and with the materials hereafter specified.
(1) 
All sidewalks shall be laid in conformity to the grade of the street established by the Borough Council of the Borough of Langhorne, for which grade application must be made to the Borough Engineer.
(2) 
In all streets where the width of the sidewalk is not fixed by ordinance, the same shall be one-fifth part of the total width of the street from the property line to the outside of the curbs on each side thereof, in the case of each street respectively.
(3) 
Where one curbline intersects another curbline, the said curblines shall be connected with circular curbing of a radius not less than eight feet, the said curbing to be set to a true tangent with said lines in all cases. Also, where an angle occurs in a line, the lines forming the angle shall be connected by a curve of a radius approved by the Borough Engineer.
(4) 
The minimum width of the paved portion of the sidewalk in any case shall not be less than four feet on all streets and shall be paved for the full width when the Borough Council shall so require.
(5) 
If the sidewalk is not paved the full width, the space remaining unpaved must be filled with good gravel or sodded and maintained to the same grade as the pavement.
(6) 
The pavement must be so constructed that the middle line of the paved portion of all sidewalks shall coincide with an imaginary line parallel with the curb and at a distance equal to one-half the total distance between the curb and the property line, and in no case shall it be laid otherwise except upon a written permit issued by the Borough Council aforesaid to the person or persons paying for such pavement.
(7) 
In no instance where a driveway crosses a sidewalk will it be permissible to construct said driveway with transverse curbs.
(8) 
Curbstone shall be cement concrete, free from seams or other imperfections, set to a slight angle with the perpendicular axis of the roadway; dimensions and quality to be as follows:
(a) 
All sidewalks must have a pitch or slope from the curbline toward the building ascending at the rate of 1/4 of an inch to the foot, and shall in no case be constructed otherwise unless upon written order of the Borough Council aforesaid.
(b) 
Concrete used in the construction of sidewalk, curb and gutter shall consist of cement, fine aggregate, course aggregate and clean water mixed in the proportions as specified.
(c) 
All cement and concrete must be of a quality that will conform to the current specifications for Cement and Concrete of the American Society for Testing Materials.
[1] 
Machine mixing. All concrete shall be mixed by machine, except when the Borough Council aforesaid shall otherwise permit under special conditions. A batch mixer of any approved type shall be used. The ingredients of the concrete or mortar shall be mixed to the specified consistency, and the mixing shall continue for at least one minute after all materials are in the drum. The drum shall be completely emptied before receiving material for the succeeding batch.
[2] 
Hand mixing. When it is necessary to mix by hand, the materials shall be mixed dry on a watertight platform until the mixture is of uniform color, the required amount of water added, and the mixing continued until the mass is of proper consistency and homogeneous.
[3] 
Retempering. Retempering of mortar or concrete which has practically hardened, that is, remixing with or without additional materials or water shall not be permitted.
(9) 
All sidewalks and curbing shall be constructed of cement concrete (excepting under special circumstances where permission is granted in writing by the Borough Council aforesaid for the use of other materials) and shall meet the following requirements:
(a) 
Concrete sidewalks shall be not less than four inches in thickness, except where driveways cross the sidewalk, in which case it shall be six inches in thickness within the limits of the driveway. The course shall consist of concrete mixed in the proportions of one part (by volume) of cement to two parts of fine aggregate to four parts of course aggregate.
(b) 
Sidewalks shall be constructed in slabs or independently divided sections having an area of not more than 100 square feet and shall not have dimensions greater then 10 feet, nor shall the length of any such slab or sections be greater than 1 1/2 times its width. Where it is desired to construct larger slabs, they shall be reinforced with a steel mesh in a manner satisfactory to the Borough Council aforesaid. The method of placing the various sections shall be such as to produce a straight clean-cut joint between them extending the entire depth so as to make each section an independent unit.
(c) 
A 1/2-inch joint shall be provided at least every 50 feet in the length of walk which shall be filled with an approved joint filler. A similar joint shall be provided at each intersection of sidewalk and street curb and between the sidewalks and abutting buildings.
(d) 
The joint filler shall be suitable elastic, waterproof compound that will not become soft and run out in hot weather, nor hard and brittle and chip out in cold weather, or prepared strips of fiber matrix and bitumen as approved by the Borough Council aforesaid. The strips shall be 1/2 inch in thickness their width shall at least equal the full thickness of the slab and their length shall be at least the width of the slab at the joint.
(e) 
The subbase shall be four inches of gravel, clean cinder or other material approved by the Building Inspector.
(10) 
Where driveways are constructed across sidewalks, the sidewalks shall not be depressed, but the slope from the depressed curb elevation may be made from the face of the curb most distant from the center line of the street to a line parallel with and two feet inside the edge of the sidewalk line nearest the building line. The section two feet in width and nearest the building line shall conform to the adjoining sidewalk elevation and required slope as heretofore specified. Laterally, three feet on each side of the driveway shall be allowed for the transition from depressed curb elevation to normal sidewalk elevation at the line of the sidewalk nearest the center line of the street.
(11) 
Wherever any portion of a driveway shall be constructed between the curb and the inner (property line) side of the sidewalk, the same shall be constructed of concrete, Class A, 3000 test, and comply with Pennsylvania Department of Highway specifications.
(12) 
Cement concrete curb shall not be less than six inches thick at the top and seven inches at the bottom and 18 inches deep. The top corner on face of curb shall be rounded to a radius of one inch. All dropped curbing for driveways shall be reinforced according to specifications prepared by the Borough Engineer.
(13) 
The concrete for curb shall be mixed in the proportions of one part (by volume) of cement to two parts fine aggregate to four parts course aggregate.
(14) 
Forms for concrete curb shall be made of substantial materials, preferably steel forms. They shall be braced or staked so as to insure perfect alignment and grade.
(15) 
After pouring concrete into the forms, it shall be puddled and spaded so as to insure a thorough mixture, eliminate air pockets and create uniform and smooth sides. Before the concrete has thoroughly set, and while it is still green, the forms shall be removed and the front and top sides shall be finished with a float or steel trowel to make a uniform finished surface. No plastering of the top or face of curb shall be permitted.
(16) 
All curb shall be cut clear through by the use of steel templates or other approved means at intervals of not more than 10 feet so that it will consist of independent sections about 10 feet long.
(17) 
Expansion joints one-half inch in thickness shall be placed between sections of curb at intervals of not more than 50 feet. These joints shall be filled with an approved premolded bituminous material. Similar expansion joints shall be placed at street intersections where the straight curb meets the curbed section of curb.
(18) 
The depth of the face of the curb from top of curb to the surface of the street shall be left to the discretion of the Borough Engineer.
(19) 
All sidewalks, slabs over vaults, manholes or other openings under the sidewalks shall be designated for a uniform load of 375 pounds per square foot of slab surface. Such design shall be based upon a working stress of 16,000 pounds per square inch for steel and 650 pounds per square inch for concrete. No work involving the construction of such slabs shall be started until the owner or person responsible for such construction shall have submitted a plan showing in detail the construction proposed until the Borough Engineer shall approve such plan. Plans are to be in duplicate, one to be filed with the Borough Secretary and the other to be returned to the owner with the Borough Council's approval marked thereon.
(20) 
All concrete cement sidewalks and curbs must be protected from the action of frost, wind and sun until thoroughly set.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with or in any way conflicting with the provisions of this article are hereby repealed and all ordinances or sections of ordinances not inconsistent with the provisions of this article are hereby confirmed in every particular.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. 
Any person or persons who shall violate any of the provisions of § 372-12 of this article shall, upon written notice, correct the violation as notified or, after a period of 20 days, the Borough Council of the Borough of Langhorne shall order the work done at the expense of the person violating this article. Said sums due shall become a lien upon the property and shall be collected as provided by law.
B. 
Any person or persons who shall willfully violate any of the provisions of § 372-12 of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Borough shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this article in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County.
Any person or persons who shall undertake to install or repair sidewalk, curbing or gutters shall take out a permit from Zoning Officer and secure the necessary grades from the Borough Engineer.