[Adopted 9-23-1976 as Art.
II of Ch. 24 of the Charter and Revised Ordinances]
Whenever used in §§ 172-21 to 172-42, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The City of Derby.
The City Clerk.
The City Engineer or his duly authorized representative.
The Street Commissioner or his duly authorized representative.
No person, firm or corporation shall excavate within or under or place
any obstruction or substruction within, under, upon or over any city highway
without direct permission of the City Clerk. If any person, firm or corporation
shall violate the provisions of this section, the city may, at its option,
fill in or close any such excavation or remove or alter the same, and the
expense incurred by the city in such filling or removing or altering shall
be paid by the person, firm or corporation making such excavation or placing
such obstruction or substruction. Any person, firm or corporation violating
any provision of this section shall be fined not more than $100 for the first
offense and not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each subsequent offense.
The City Clerk is hereby authorized and empowered to grant a permit
for excavation or obstruction or substruction of any city roadway, subject
to the provisions of §§ 172-20 to 172-42. The authorization
given by the City Clerk for such use of the highway must be in writing in
a form prescribed by him, which form is designated and known as a "permit."
Such permit shall be issued on a multicopy form prepared by the City Clerk.
A copy of all permits issued by the City Clerk shall be forwarded to the Street
Commissioner. In appropriate cases where the excavation shall substantially
interfere with traffic or cause any highway to become completely impassable,
the Clerk shall also forward copies of the permit to the Chief of Police and
to the Chief of the Derby Fire Department.
An application, in writing, in a form prescribed by the Clerk shall
be made to the Clerk at least five days prior to the time such excavation
or obstruction is to be commenced. The Clerk may require a sketch of such
proposed work, drawn to scale if he finds the same is necessary. The Clerk
may, in his discretion, extend the time limitation specified in this section
or in any other section of this article.
When it appears that the work called for in an application would cause
substantial or needless damage to a highway or create excessive disturbance
to traffic or exceptionally dangerous conditions not commensurate with the
benefits to the applicant, the request for permit may be denied. The applicant
will be informed of such rejection by a letter from the Clerk, stating the
reasons for such rejection. The Clerk shall reject the application of any
person, firm or corporation when the applicant has failed to perform work
under a previously issued permit within the time required or in the manner
required or when the applicant has failed to reimburse the city for recoverable
charges billed under the terms governing a previous permit.
The Clerk shall collect the sum of $8 for each permit issued by him.
Such sum shall be payable prior to the time the permit is issued. All sums
of money collected by the Clerk shall be paid by him to the City Treasurer
on a monthly basis.
It is hereby made the duty of the engineer to determine the amount and
form of the guaranty to be deposited with the city by the permittee in connection
with each permit. He may accept either a cash deposit in such amount or may
accept a surety bond with good and sufficient surety, such bond to be in a
form prescribed by the corporation counsel. No permit shall be issued until
such deposit or bond has been filed with the Clerk. An annual blanket surety
bond, acceptable to the corporation counsel, may be deposited to avoid the
inconvenience and expense of obtaining individual deposits or bonds for each
permit requested. The Clerk shall release such deposit or surety bond six
months after the permanent top surface has been applied by the permit holder;
provided, however, that such deposit or bond shall not be released unless
all of the requirements of §§ 172-21 to 172-42 have been met.
The applicant shall, before issuance of a permit, deliver to the City
Clerk an insurance policy written by an insurance company authorized to do
business in the state, upon which the city is named insured, which such policy
shall insure against bodily injury or property damage arising out of any action
or activity or work of the applicant in connection, with the work undertaken
under such permit. The policy shall have bodily injury limits of $100,000
for any person and $300,000 for any occurrence and shall have property damage
limits of at least $25,000.
All work shall be completed in a manner satisfactory to the engineer
before the expiration date established by the Clerk which shall be shown on
the permit. The permit holder may request the engineer to allow an extension
of time. The extension of time may be granted in writing by the engineer.
Emergency permits may be granted by the Clerk or by the inspector in
the case of broken gas or water mains or other such emergencies, but the person,
firm or corporation performing such excavation or creating such obstruction
must file a written application for a permit within 24 hours thereafter, in
the manner prescribed for nonemergency work.
Any permit issued by the Clerk is revocable immediately upon written
notification or oral order given personally to the permittee by such engineer
or inspector.
It shall be the duty of the permittee to make certain that the security
of the traveling public is safeguarded and its rights are not unreasonably
curtailed. If any excavation or obstruction shall be left upon the highway
at night, it shall be marked by flares, lanterns, lights, flashing beacons
or other warning devices approved by the inspector. If the work performed
upon the highway shall make the traveled portion dangerous for the movement
of vehicles, a watchman or a sufficient number of flagmen or a police officer
shall be assigned by the permittee to direct traffic.
The greatest care shall be exercised to protect tree roots from damage,
not only when excavating but on all subsequent operations of construction
and backfilling. When roots are encountered near the base of a tree, the permittee
shall tunnel under the roots as directed by the inspector. The inspector may
require such other protection as shall be reasonable in regard to any particular
instance.
The pavement surface shall be removed with all edges cut to a straight
line; preferably such removal shall be accomplished with either a spade point
tool or cut with a concrete saw. Under no circumstances shall the pavement
slab be subject to blows from a hammer or dropweight, but any concrete base
or subbase under the pavement slab may be broken with a pneumatic tool using
a bull point.
The size of the excavation shall be kept as small as practicable to
carry on the work. No material removed in excavating shall be placed in the
traveled path unless approved by the inspector. In any case, the material
shall be placed so as to interfere as little as possible with the ordinary
use of the highway. If such excavated material must be placed in gutters,
suitable conduits first shall be installed temporarily in which to carry drainage
beyond the obstruction.
When rock or other hard material must be removed by a permittee, he
may blast such material if the pavement or other structures will not be endangered
thereby. Only a "blast man" licensed by the State Police Commissioner will
be permitted to charge or set off blasts within the highway right-of-way.
All state and municipal regulations concerning the same shall be fully complied
with. The permittee shall be responsible for all damage. A mat or weight of
logs or sandbags shall be placed over the charge to prevent shattered materials
from scattering.
The backfilling of excavations shall be performed so that the least
possible settling will occur. The excavation shall be filled with suitable
materials; provided, however, that mud, peat, stones or clay shall not be
considered acceptable materials. It shall be within the discretion of the
engineer to determine the material which is suitable for the purposes of this
section. The excavation shall be filled with such suitable material thoroughly
tamped in layers not to exceed six inches in thickness. Tamping shall be by
means of mechanical rams, vibrators, hand tamps or by pneumatic tampers. If
pneumatic tampers are used, they shall have a tamping face area of not less
than 50 square inches in area and each complete assembly shall have a weight
of not less than two pounds per square inch. If hand tamp is used, it shall
weigh not less than 12 pounds and have a tamping face area of not more than
50 square inches. When approved or directed by the inspector, the backfill
shall be thoroughly consolidated by flushing the excavation with water. The
suitable material approved by the engineer shall be placed in the excavation
in accordance with the provisions of this section to a height of not more
than 10 inches from the top of the excavation. The next course shall be eight
inches in depth and shall be of either bankrun gravel or broken stone. The
finished top surface shall be applied in accordance with §§ 172-21
to 172-42 and the requirements of § 172-39 hereof.
The engineer shall determine the period of settling depending upon the
character of the excavation, the depth, the kind of material used in the backfilling,
the degree of compactness obtained and any other conditions which may apply.
As soon as the excavation has been backfilled and tamped, the pavement
shall be replaced temporarily by the permittee. The temporary pavement shall
consist of bituminous concrete of a mixture approved by the inspector, compressed
to a minimum depth of one inch. The surface of the temporary pavement shall
not extend above or below the surface of the surrounding permanent pavement
and shall be reasonably smooth. The permittee shall be responsible for the
temporary pavement and shall see that the contractor or his own forces keep
this pavement in repair until the permanent surface can be replaced. Additional
material shall be added, as necessary, as the backfill settles. If the permittee
does not maintain a temporary pavement adequately, the engineer may direct
that necessary repairs be made by the Street Commissioner to prevent accidents
and the permittee will be charged by the city for this work.
Upon the completion of the trench work in a surface treated, or oiled
gravel pavement, a compacted base and a temporary patch of bituminous concrete
shall be provided in accordance with § 172-40. After full settlement
in the trench, a permanent two-inch surface of bituminous concrete shall be
constructed by the permittee at his expense, in the trench area as well as
outside the trench where the oiled mat surface is disturbed or settled. Each
edge of the oiled mat shall be cut back in uniform lines parallel to the trench
at least six inches.
The provisions of § 172-36 concerning nonpermanent pavement
roads shall apply to permanent pavement roadways as applicable. Backfilling
may be accomplished with suitable materials and there shall be no requirement
for bank-run gravel or broken stone in the top eight inches of the backfill.
The backfill shall come to a height of one inch from the top surface of the
pavement. A temporary patch shall be applied and a period of settling in accordance
with § 172-37 allowed. After the period of settling determined by
the engineer, the temporary patch shall be removed from the original excavation
to a depth of eight inches and the subgrade smoothed so that there will be
a uniform depth over the entire area of the excavation. No additional filling
for the subgrade will be permitted at this time, and if any part of the normal
subgrade under the temporary patch is excavated below the eight-inch depth
from the top of the pavement when the temporary patch is removed, the entire
void shall be filled with concrete of a coarse aggregate. The excavation shall
be filled with concrete to a height no higher than three inches from the level
of the surrounding pavement. The entire subgrade and edges of the original
pavement shall be wet down before the new concrete is placed. Prior to pouring
of the concrete, the existing pavement shall be cut back at least 12 inches
beyond all edges of the original excavation, care being taken not to disturb
the base below the pavement thus removed. This shelf or ledge shall provide
a firm support for the permanent patch. After the curing of the base concrete,
bituminous macadam shall be applied and compacted to present a smooth surface
with the adjoining pavement. The bituminous concrete or macadam shall meet
State Highway Department specifications for hot asphalt concrete, dense graded
bituminous concrete or asphalt concrete steam dispersion, process. A hot,
liquid bitumen such as RC-2 shall be painted lightly as a tack coat on the
clean, dry face of all joints prior to placement of the permanent patch material.
The permittee shall reconstruct all curbs and sidewalks disturbed by
any such excavation with materials similar to those of which they were originally
constructed.
No person shall remove any manhole cover from any manhole owned or operated
by the city without first securing the permission of the inspector to so do.
If any person shall violate this section, he shall be fined no more than $25
for each such offense.
