[Adopted 7-31-2024 by Ord. No. 246]
The following words, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates otherwise:
APPLICANT
Any person, as defined in this section, who makes application for a street opening permit.
CONTRACTOR
Any person who or which performs excavation work for himself or for another person.
EMERGENCY
Sudden or unforeseen circumstance or occurrence which calls for immediate action by the utility or facility owner; any condition constituting a clear and present danger to life or property by reason of escaping gas, exposed wires, or other similar or serious breaks or defects in an underground line.
ENGINEER
The duly appointed Fallowfield Township Engineer or his authorized representative or inspector.
EXCAVATION WORK
The use of either manual or powered equipment or explosives in the movement of earth, rock, or other material.
FACILITY OWNER
Any public utility or agency, political subdivision, municipality, authority, or other person or entity who or which owns or operates a line or facility.
LINE OR FACILITY
An underground conductor or underground pipe or structure used to convey, carry, or provide service or substance.
PA ONE CALL
Notification of proposed excavation to the Pennsylvania One Call System in accordance with the requirements of the Underground Utility Line Protection Law, 73 P.S. § 176 et seq.
PERMIT
The approval issued to an applicant to perform any work covered by the terms and conditions of this article.
PERMITTEE
Any person, as defined in this section, who or which has been issued a street opening permit and has hereby agreed to perform any work to fulfill the terms of this article.
PERSON
Includes any natural person, or partnership, firm, association, utility, authority, or corporation created pursuant to an Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
ROAD MASTER
The Fallowfield Township Supervisor, who is the Road Master, or his designee.
STREET
Any public right-of-way, street, avenue, road, square, alley, highway, or other public place or right-of-way located within the Township and established for the use of vehicles.
TOWNSHIP
Fallowfield Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
WORK
Any and all activities of any kind or nature conducted by a permittee, his agents, employees, contractors and subcontractors, or any other person, which involves, to any extent, any roadway or right-of-way of the Township.
It shall be unlawful, except in cases of emergency, for any person to make any opening or excavation of any kind in or under any Township street without first securing a street opening permit from the Township for each separate undertaking. Minor excavations not within the paved or otherwise improved portion of any street and not greater than one foot in depth made for the purposes of installing, maintaining, or replacing a driveway, sidewalk, mailbox, or other similar appurtenance which may be authorized or permitted under this article or other Township ordinances, shall be exempt. Any person making application for a street opening permit shall agree to the terms of this article as hereinafter provided.
It shall be the duty of the applicant to comply with the following express conditions and provisions before a street opening permit shall be granted:
A. 
The applicant shall file a written application on the official form provided for this purpose by the Township. A separate application shall be filed for each and every project undertaken by the applicant at any one time and shall be signed by a responsible person authorized to sign the application.
B. 
The applicant shall set forth the purpose of such opening, and provide the exact location, size, area, and depth of opening required to complete the work.
C. 
The applicant shall establish the date or dates during which such opening is to be made, including the date and time when temporary and/or final resurfacing is to be performed. It is the applicant's responsibility to contact Pennsylvania One-Call Systems, Inc. (1-800-242-1776) in accordance with the Pennsylvania Underground Utility Line Protection Law, 73 P.S. § 176 et seq.
D. 
The applicant shall provide and maintain public liability and property damage insurance in an amount sufficient to indemnify and save harmless the Township from all liability for damages or injury done to persons and property which may be incurred by reason of such opening or any failure to properly protect, maintain, barricade, light, backfill, and/or otherwise properly secure the same. The insurance shall not be in an amount less than $1,000,000 for injury to persons and $100,000 for injury to property for each occurrence. The applicant shall name Fallowfield Township as an additional insured and a certificate holder and provide proof of said insurance to Fallowfield Township prior to issuance of a permit.
E. 
Prior to permit issuance, the applicant shall deliver to Fallowfield Township a deposit or bond in the amount set by Fallowfield Township. This amount shall be calculated according to § 341-17 of this article, but in no case shall the bond be less than $500.
F. 
Whenever any public utility or municipal authority maintaining underground facilities shall contemplate more than one street opening or excavation per calendar year, it may post a bond for the calendar year to cover any and all work in an amount calculated according to § 341-17 of this article. Said bond shall be approved by Fallowfield Township. The insurance requirements of Subsection D, above, shall be waived upon receipt of notice of self-insurance by any public utility or municipal authority.
The applicant shall secure a street opening permit for each, and every project undertaken by the applicant at any one time. In cases of emergency, the Road Master or his designee shall be notified prior to making any emergency repairs, and a street opening permit shall be secured on the first official workday thereafter.
Fallowfield Township, upon receipt of the properly completed application, shall have the Township Engineer compute the amount of deposit or bond to be provided by the applicant to the Township to reimburse the Township for any cost of work and materials furnished for the backfilling or refilling of the opening or excavation and the restoring of the surface or replacing the pavement over any such opening or excavation, together with any expenditure for labor, material, and/or inspection subsequently necessitated in the maintenance, repairing, or resurfacing of any such opening for a period of one year from the date of completion, so as to leave any such street in as good a condition as it was before such excavation or opening. The amount calculated for deposit or bond shall include the estimated cost of the proposed surface and trench restoration work plus the cost of inspection and any other cost that may be directly charged to the opening or excavation. The total amount calculated shall be increased by 25% to determine the amount of deposit or bond.
The permittee shall be responsible to locate all underground facilities, including sanitary sewers, storm sewers, gas lines, water lines, telephone and electrical conduits, and all other underground facilities, sufficiently in advance of the commencement of the work in order that damage to any such facilities be avoided, as well as to permit their relocation, if necessary. The permittee shall also comply with all the utility notification requirements of the Underground Utility Protection Law, 73 P.S. § 176 et seq. If an underground facility is damaged by the permittee, such damage shall be repaired and/or restored by the permittee, as necessary and in accordance with the directions of the owner of the facility.
A. 
The permittee shall take every necessary and reasonable precaution to keep the street in a safe and passable condition at all times by providing and maintaining any necessary guards, barricades, warning lights, flags or signs, or other safety devices in accordance with PennDOT Publication 203, "Work Zone Traffic Control," latest revision.
B. 
No opening shall extend beyond the center of the street before being refilled and the surface of the street restored to a safe and passable condition for travel by vehicles or pedestrians. At no time will the improved part of a roadway be completely closed to vehicle or pedestrian traffic, unless such closing is authorized, in advance and in writing, by the Road Master or his designee.
C. 
No more than 100 feet measured longitudinally shall be opened in any street at any one time.
D. 
The permittee shall provide and maintain all necessary shoring and/or bracing of openings so as to protect persons, roadways, utilities, and adjacent land and buildings from damage resulting from shifting or subsidence of the adjacent land.
E. 
No tunneling shall be allowed without express approval of Fallowfield Township and permission therefor endorsed on the street opening permit.
F. 
Excavated or other material shall be placed or stored on the side of the operation farthest from the pavement unless otherwise designated by Fallowfield Township, and in such manner that there will be no interference with the flow of stormwater and/or traffic.
G. 
Where a pipe drain, pipe culvert, or other structure or facility is encountered, it shall be replaced, restored, strengthened, or protected by the permittee, as directed by the Road Master or his designee.
H. 
No refilling of such excavation or opening shall be accomplished unless or until the Fallowfield Township Road Master or the Township Engineer or other authorized agent of the Township shall be present.
I. 
All openings and excavations shall be backfield promptly with suitable material and thoroughly compacted in layers to not less than 90% of the density obtained at optimum moisture content as determined by AASHTO T-99. When directed by the Township Road Master or the Township Engineer or other authorized agent of the Township, nuclear densometer gage compaction tests of the backfill shall be conducted by an independent laboratory. Compaction testing shall be completed at the applicant's expense. Failure to meet the compaction requirements, as outlined herein, shall be cause to require re-excavation and re-compaction.
J. 
Temporary surfacing.
(1) 
Temporary surfacing, consisting of not less than two inches of bituminous cold patch material, shall be installed in all excavations within the paved portion of any street as soon as possible following the completion of the backfilling procedure. In no case shall the placement of bituminous cold patch material be delayed more than one business day following the completion of the backfilling procedure.
(2) 
Temporary surfacing shall be maintained for a period of at least two weeks free of depressions and mounds. After that length of time, and as soon as conditions permit, the temporary surfacing shall be removed and immediately replaced with the final surfacing. The final surfacing shall be completed in the presence of the Township Road Master, the Township Engineer or other authorized agent of the Township and in accordance with the applicable standard restoration detail or as otherwise directed.
K. 
All surfaces shall be restored such that the restored surface is equal to or better than the surface which existed prior to excavation or removal. The restored surface is constructed to neat lines and shall be free of objectionable irregularities in grade, texture, or color. All surface restoration shall be completed in accordance with the applicable standard restoration details and associated specifications.
(1) 
Longitudinal openings. Longitudinal openings in bituminous paved streets shall be restored by first restoring the actual trench area plus an additional area of at least 12 inches on each side of the trench with the required depth of bituminous concrete base course, as shown on the applicable restoration detail. The final bituminous wearing course shall be installed over the full width of the affected street by milling or planning the existing surface to a depth of not less than 1 1/2 inches and to not less than the minimum horizontal dimensions shown on the applicable restoration detail. In lieu of milling and where approved by the Township's Road Master or the Township Engineer or other authorized agent of the Township, the existing pavement may be removed to its full depth and to the horizontal dimensions required by the applicable detail. The pavement shall then be replaced to its full depth over the required area. Longitudinal openings in concrete paved streets shall be restored by replacing the full lane or slab width affected by the excavation. Construction joints shall be replaced at the location of the existing joints. In no case shall the length of the slab replacement consist of less than six feet.
(2) 
Transverse openings. Pavement replacement for traverse openings shall be restored in generally the same manner as longitudinal openings except that full street width restoration shall be completed for each street affected by the transverse opening. Where multiple transverse openings are made in a roadway and the pavement restoration of any street, when performed in accordance with the applicable restoration details, results in the ends of any two consecutive pavement patches being less than 10 feet apart, the pavement restoration shall be performed by treating the two consecutive patches as a single patch by removing and replacing the existing pavement between such patches.
L. 
Fallowfield Township shall endeavor to provide notice to all public utility companies and municipal authorities registered with the Pennsylvania One Call System as having underground lines or facilities within the Township advising them of local streets planned to be paved or otherwise improved. All such public utility companies, and municipal authorities shall make all connections, and any repairs required to their facilities which would necessitate excavation of the street within 30 days from the giving of such notice, unless such time is extended in writing by the Township. The repair and restoration of any street which has been paved or otherwise improved within five years of opening or excavation shall be made in strict accordance with the applicable standard restoration details and/or specifications and directions of the Fallowfield Township Road Master or Engineer.
M. 
In no case shall any opening or excavation made by a permittee be considered in the charge or care of Fallowfield Township or of any officer or person employed by the Township, and no officer or employee of the Township is authorized in any way to take or assume any responsibility over any such opening or excavation, except in the exercise of police power, where and when it is necessary to protect life and property.
One year from the date of completion, the permanent restoration of the opened or excavated street shall be inspected by the Fallowfield Township Road Master, the Township Engineer or other authorized agent of the Township, who, if restoration shall be satisfactory and in accordance with the Township's specification, shall certify that such work is accepted by the Township. Upon certification of acceptance of the work, the permittee shall be refunded his deposit less all costs incurred by the Township.
The Fallowfield Township Road Master, the Township Engineer, or other authorized agent of the Township shall have the right to observe and inspect all work done under a street opening permit and shall see that all terms and conditions of this article are enforced and shall have the power and is hereby directed to prosecute every person violating any of the provisions contained herein. Such supervision and inspection shall be done at the sole expense of the permittee and shall be paid in full within 30 days of invoice.
Any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs, and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.
The fee for street opening permits shall be established by resolution from time to time by the Board of Supervisors. Payment of said street opening permit fee is a requirement for issuance of any street opening permit.
Standard restoration details included herewith represent the minimum performance standards required to comply with this article. References made to PennDOT specifications refer to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Form 408 Specifications, latest edition, including all supplements and revisions thereto. References made to RC Standards refer to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Standards for Roadway Construction (Publication # 72), latest edition, including all supplements and revisions thereto.