Township of Maple Shade, NJ Article III Street Excavations

[Adopted 10-1-1975 as Ch. 111, Art. III, of the 1975 Code]

§ 175-10 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

MORATORIUM STREET AREA (RECONSTRUCTED AND RESURFACED)

Any area within a street, road, highway, avenue, lane, alley or other way under the control of the Township of Maple Shade and commonly used by the public for street purposes that has been reconstructed within the past 60 months from project completion as determined by the Municipal Engineer or resurfaced/overlayed within the past 24 months from project completion as determined by the Municipal Engineer. Street excavation permits cannot be issued for a moratorium street area other than for emergency (see § 175-18) or for work performed by the Township.

[Added 4-26-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-03]

A. RECONSTRUCTED ROAD A road that has undergone reconstruction. Reconstruction is the replacement of the entire existing pavement structure by the placement of the equivalent or increased pavement structure. Reconstruction is performed when a street's structure is deteriorated to the point of no return or when a street's loading capacity needs to be upgraded. Reconstruction generally consists of excavation of all existing paving material and subbase material, placing and compacting of new subbase material, and placing and compacting of hot mix asphalt.

B. RESURFACED ROAD A road that has undergone resurfacing or overlay. Resurfacing or overlay is the replacement of the surface of the existing pavement. Resurfacing is performed to improve driving conditions or correct improper drainage on a road that does not have structural deficiencies. Resurfacing is performed by grinding off selected areas of old asphalt, repairing select badly deteriorated areas, and placing and compacting of hot mix asphalt. Asphalt used for resurfacing is generally placed in two-inch-thick layers.

PERSON

A natural person, persons, partnership, organization or corporation, including utility companies.

STREET

Any street, road, highway, avenue, lane, alley or other way under the control of the Township of Maple Shade and commonly used by the public for street purposes.

§ 175-11 Interpretation.

A. Nothing in any provision of this article shall be construed as requiring the issuance of a permit for the performance of any work done on any county or state road or under a contract with the township.

B. Nothing in this article shall be construed as impairing or abrogating any rights heretofore granted by the township in any ordinance.

§ 175-12 Permit required.

A. No person, company, firm or corporation shall remove, dig into, disturb, excavate or take up, or cause or permit to be removed, disturbed, excavated or dug up, the surface of any street, sidewalk or other public place or any pavement therein which is under the control of the Township of Maple Shade without first having obtained and being in possession of a valid written permit to do so. It shall be the duty of the Community Development Director to grant such a permit when all the requirements for granting the same have been complied with by the applicant.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]

B. At the discretion of the Community Development Director, upon direction from the Township Manager, which may include advice from the Director of Public Works, Traffic Control and the Township Engineer, the separate permit required for each opening may be waived in the case of an applicant(s) making numerous openings (see example 1 below) and shall not be required for the installation of utility poles or guy wires.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 4-26-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-03; 6-25-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-05]

(1) Example 1: Five or fewer residential property owners may file a joint application for multiple sidewalk repairs (including removal and replacement) when:

(a) The application properties are on the same street and/or on the same tax block;

(b) The same contractor is being used to perform and complete the work; and

(c) The sidewalk for all properties will be completed and ready for inspection on the same date.

C. The application and the issuance of the permit shall be in the name of the party actually doing the work, except in the case of public utilities which have posted a bond with the township.

D. Permission to make an opening or tear up the surface of a road does not carry with it any right to make drainage, sewer, water, gas, oil, steam, electric or telephone connections. A separate permit to make such connections must be obtained from the proper officials having jurisdiction.

§ 175-13 Applications.

A. Applications for a permit under the provisions of this article shall be submitted at least 72 hours prior to the time work is to begin.

B. Applications shall contain the following information:

(1) Name and address of applicant.

(2) Name and address of person, firm or corporation performing the excavation.

(3) Location of proposed excavation.

(4) The date on which the operation will start and the date on which it will be completed. All projects should be complete and ready for inspection within two weeks of the project start of date.

[Amended 4-26-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-03]

(5) The purpose of such opening or excavation (sewer, water, gas, electricity, telephone, etc.).

(6) Approximate size of excavation.

C. In addition to the information required above, a sketch shall be submitted showing:

(1) Location of the excavation or opening in regards to all property lines and right-of-way lines within 200 feet.

(2) Approximate size and shape of the area to be excavated.

(3) Location of any underground utility lines or structures within the immediate area.

D. The application and sketch plan shall be approved by the Township Engineer and/or Police Department Traffic Control prior to the issuance of any permit. Applications that only include sidewalk or a sump pump connection to the ROW (no apron, curbs, or pavement) may be reviewed, approved and inspected by the Director of Public Work with input from Traffic Control and, if needed, the Township Engineer.

[Amended 6-25-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-05]

§ 175-14 Fees and escrow.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 10-11-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-12]

A. When the replacement of the pavement is to be performed by the Township, fees shall be charged as set forth in Chapter 88, Fees.

B. Work done by permit holder.

(1) When the replacement of the pavement is to be performed by the holder of the permit, fees shall be charged as set forth in Chapter 88, Fees. Applications that involve a scope of work that is expected to require municipal inspections that will significantly exceed the amount of the inspection fee, the applicant will instead be required to post escrow for inspections in an amount as recommended by the Municipal Engineer and agreed to by the applicant.

(2) Such fees shall be charged to cover the administrative costs of processing and issuing the permit and making necessary inspections.

§ 175-15 Bond; deposit.

[Amended 10-20-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-10; 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 12-11-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-24]

In the event that the fee is paid as provided in § 175-14B above and said work is done in accordance with a new approved land development project, the board engineer shall prepare a bond estimate inclusive of all infrastructure work for street excavation. A bond for said work shall be deposited with the Community Development Director prior to any work being performed.

A. There shall be deposited with the Community Development Director an amount sufficient to cover the cost of repairing or replacing the pavement of the street opened. Such deposit shall be in the amount computed as provided by § 175-14A above. After replacement and/or repair has been completed, the deposit shall be returned less the cost of any township expenses incurred in the satisfactory completion of such repair and/or replacement.

B. A maintenance bond shall be deposited with the Township to guarantee that the restoration will remain in good condition for at least one year.

(1) The minimum amount of each maintenance bond shall be $500 and there shall be an additional amount of $1 for each square foot in excess of 100 square feet.

C. Capital projects under the supervision of the Township Engineer shall post a bond with the Township Treasurer. The Township Engineer shall prepare a bond estimate inclusive of all infrastructure work for said capital project.

(1) A maintenance bond shall be deposited with the Township to guarantee that the restoration will remain in good condition for at least one year.

(2) The minimum amount of each maintenance bond shall be $500 and there shall be an additional amount of $1 for each square foot over 100 square feet.

D. No bond issued to the Township of Maple Shade shall be released without a resolution of approval from the Township Council.

§ 175-16 Liability.

The applicant, in accepting a permit under this article, shall be deemed to have agreed to indemnify and save harmless the Township of Maple Shade from and against all loss, cost or damages incurred by reason of any damage to any property, injury to any person or any loss of life resulting from negligence of the applicant, his agents or employees in performing the work covered by the permit, and the Township of Maple Shade, in issuing said permit, thereby discounts any liability in connection therewith. The township inspection is solely for the purpose of ensuring that the existing facilities are restored so that the township will not have the financial responsibility of replacing said facilities.

§ 175-17 Notice of interruption of service.

Where water or gas installations require services of existing users to be interrupted, such utility shall notify such users of the period of time when the services will not be available. Such notice shall be given at least 24 hours prior to the interruption of service.

§ 175-18 Emergency street openings.

[Amended 4-26-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-03]

Street openings may be made without the necessity of a written application, as provided for in § 175-13 hereof, in emergencies such as broken or frozen water mains or other happenings which would endanger public life, health and safety, provided that notice thereof shall be immediately given verbally to the Chief of Police. Written application for a permit shall nevertheless be made to the Township as soon as may be convenient, but in any event within 48 hours, all in accordance with the provisions of this article. When an emergency street opening is necessary within a moratorium street area, the roadway shall be backfilled, restored, and resurfaced from curb to curb when the entire roadway (curb-to-curb) was part of a roadway improvement project, or the roadway shall be backfilled, restored, and resurfaced in accordance with the provisions of this article.

§ 175-19 Notice of proposed street opening; protection of existing structures.

[Amended 6-25-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-05]

It shall be the duty of the permittee to give notice of the proposed street opening to any company whose pipes, conduits or other structures are laid in the portion of the street to be opened. Such notice shall be given at least 48 hours before commencing such opening. The permittee shall, at his own expense, carefully support, maintain in operation and protect from injury such pipes, conduits or other structures. If any damage is caused to such structures, the permittee shall restore them at his own expense.

§ 175-20 General regulations.

The permittee shall comply with the following rules and regulations:

A. The permittee must notify the Community Development Director, Township Engineer, Public Works Director, and the Police Department at least 48 hours in advance of the exact time of starting the work on all excavations.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 6-25-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-05]

B. Written permission to close a road to traffic must first be secured from the Community Development Director and the Police Department, and such permission shall only be valid for the time specified. The permittee may be required to give notification of such closing to various public agencies and to the general public.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]

C. The applicant shall keep all road openings properly guarded at all times for the safe passage of all traffic.

D. All openings shall be covered or filled overnight unless permission to do otherwise is obtained from the Community Development Director and the opening is adequately protected. In the case of public utilities, the required permission is waived.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]

E. Warning measures.

(1) It shall be the duty of every person cutting or making an excavation in or upon any public place to place and maintain barriers and warning devices necessary for the safety of the general public. Barriers, warning signs, lights, etc., shall be electrical markers or flashers which shall be used to indicate a hazard to traffic from sunset of each day to sunrise of the next day. Electric markers or flashers shall emit light at sufficient intensity and frequency to be visible at a reasonable distance for safety. Reflectors or reflecting material may be used to supplement but not replace light sources.

(2) The permittee shall take appropriate measures to ensure that during the performance of the excavation work, traffic conditions shall be maintained as near normal as possible at all times so as to minimize inconvenience to the occupants of the adjoining properties as to the general public.

(3) Warning signs shall be placed far enough in advance of the construction operation to alert traffic in a public street, and cones or other approved devices shall be placed to channel traffic in accordance with the instruction of the Police Department.

F. The permittee shall open no greater part of such road than shall be reasonably necessary.

G. Any opening or excavation in a road shall be promptly backfilled and restored.

H. Where multiple openings are made, the permittee shall resurface with one strip to prevent a washboard effect.

I. Installations shall be in sidewalk areas where possible, and all conduits shall be placed by boring or jacking wherever feasible.

J. Permission to cross bridges, culverts or other drainage structures must first be obtained from the County Engineer or from the Township Engineer of the Township of Maple Shade before a road opening permit is issued.

K. All excavations and operations connected therewith shall be performed so as to provide for adequate drainage and the passage of water along the gutters.

§ 175-21 Excavation requirements.

A. The use of power excavating equipment is prohibited within the pavement limits until each edge of the trench has been cut through the entire thickness of the pavement to an even, uniform line. All pavement cuts shall be made with a cutting tool or concrete saw and shall be 12 inches wider and 12 inches longer than the excavation proposed to be made in the earth beneath so that there will be a shoulder six inches wide on each side and at each end of the excavation.

B. The maximum width of any trench for sewer or utility connections shall be 30 inches unless a greater width is approved in writing by the Township Engineer.

C. Excavated material shall be stored in neat piles, so placed as to cause the least inconvenience in the use of the roadway or sidewalk. If so ordered by the Township Engineer, such excavated material shall be promptly removed from the site of the work.

D. Special permission may be granted for tunneling under a pavement of concrete or one having a concrete base. In such case, the tunnel shall be refilled with one-to-three-to-six concrete, well tamped in place.

E. Unless otherwise authorized, the work of passing under sidewalks and curbing shall be done by tunneling and refilling as provided in Subsection D hereof.

§ 175-22 Backfill specifications.

Unless otherwise directed by the Township Engineer or his authorized representative, the following specifications shall govern the backfill to be placed in excavated trenches:

A. All road, shoulder and driveway openings shall be backfilled with controlled low-strength material per Subsection 903.09 of the NJDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, 2007, as amended, or 15:1 sand cement dry mix.

[Amended 11-14-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-16]

B. All other openings shall be backfilled with the excavated material and shall be tamped in twelve-inch layers with a mechanical tamper.

C. Backfill shall be placed in trenches, as above specified, by the person, firm or corporation making the opening.

D. All material not suitable for backfill and all excess backfill material shall be removed from the site by the person, firm or corporation responsible for the opening.

§ 175-23 Sheathing.

If, in the opinion of the Township Engineer, conditions are such as to require sheathing, the permittee will install such sheathing as may be required upon order of the Township Engineer.

§ 175-24 Driving small pipes.

Small pipes or conduits may be driven beneath pavements in such a manner that the surface shall not be disturbed or injured, provided that:

A. In the event of damage to a pavement or subsurface pipe or structure caused by driving such pipe or conduit, the permittee shall repair and make good the damage at his own expense.

B. Driving of pipes is prohibited at locations in the highways where there is existing underground construction of any public utility corporation.

§ 175-25 Restoration of pavement; repairs.

A. Flexible base pavements.

(1) The backfill shall be brought up to an elevation seven inches below the elevation of the existing adjacent surface of the pavement, and said backfill shall be placed in accordance with the specifications contained in § 175-22 above.

(2) The backfilled area shall be provided with a temporary pavement which shall consist of a seven-inch-thick layer of compacted bituminous stabilized base. This temporary pavement shall be maintained by the permittee in first-class condition, as determined by the Township Engineer, for a period of one year or for such other period as shall be determined at the discretion of the Township Engineer. After such period, the permittee shall remove the top two inches of the temporary pavement and shall replace same with a permanent pavement consisting of two inches of such material as existed prior to excavation. Prior to the application of the finished surface course, the edges of the existing pavement shall be coated with a cutback asphalt.

(3) The permittee shall notify the Township Engineer at least 24 hours in advance of the exact time at which he proposes to begin the permanent pavement restoration.

B. Rigid base pavements.

(1) The backfill shall be placed in accordance with the specifications contained in § 175-22 above. The backfilled area shall be provided with a temporary pavement consisting of the same depth of stabilized base as the existing concrete pavement. The placement of the permanent top shall be in accordance with the specifications contained in Subsection A above, except that such top shall be placed to the same thickness as that which previously existed.

(2) Any bituminous topping on the concrete shall be replaced with the same material as the existing material, or such material as shall be specified by the Township Engineer, to the thickness of that which previously existed.

(3) The Township Engineer is to be notified at least 24 hours in advance of starting permanent pavement replacement.

C. Repairs. Any repairs which may be necessary during the year in which maintenance is to be provided shall conform to the requirements of this article and shall be as provided by the Township Engineer.

§ 175-26 Period of maintenance.

A. The period of maintenance shall be a period of one year after final completion of the work. In the event that the period shall terminate within the months of December, January, February, March or April, the period of maintenance shall be considered as extending until the first day of May next thereafter.

B. The period of maintenance shall terminate on the date the township completes any permanent pavement repairs if such date is prior to the time limit hereinabove established.

C. In the event that the township finds it necessary to make emergency repairs during the period of maintenance, the permittee shall immediately deposit the cost of making such emergency repairs with the Community Development Director. No permit shall be issued to any person who is in default to the township on any such payment.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]

§ 175-27 Emergencies.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]

The permittee shall at all times while work is in progress maintain with the Police Department and Community Development Director the names and telephone numbers of responsible representatives of the permittee who may be contacted to correct any hazardous or emergency condition which may arise at times other than during the normal working hours. In order to expedite emergency repairs at times other than the normal working hours, the permittee shall have such representatives available for immediate duty and shall have stockpiled at strategic locations sufficient materials suitable for emergency repairs.

§ 175-28 Enforcement.

The Township Engineer and his authorized representatives are hereby designated the enforcement officers to enforce the provisions of this article and are the agents acting for the governing body of the Township of Maple Shade in connection herewith. However, this provision shall not be construed as depriving members of the Police Department of the power to prosecute violators hereof.

§ 175-29 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 9-5-1984 by Ord. No. 1984-11; 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 4-16-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-07]

Any person who shall violate any provisions of this article, upon conviction, shall be subject to the penalty as provided in Chapter 1, Article II, herein.