Code of Ordinances

Con­struc­tion meth­ods for util­i­ty instal­la­tions on Coun­ty high­way rights of way shall com­ply with the applic­a­ble pro­vi­sions of the State of Illi­nois Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion “Stan­dard Spec­i­fi­ca­tions for Road and Bridge Con­struc­tion”, the applic­a­ble Gen­er­al Orders of the Illi­nois Com­merce Com­mis­sion, Reg­u­la­tions of the Illi­nois Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency, and the Stan­dards adopt­ed by the appro­pri­ate industry.

(A) Bor­ing or Jack­ing.  Bor­ing or jack­ing under Coun­ty high­ways shall be accom­plished from pits locat­ed a min­i­mum dis­tance of ten (10) feet (3m) plus the depth of pit with­out shoring from the edge of the pave­ment.  If shoring is used, the pits shall be locat­ed a min­i­mum of ten (10) feet (3m) from the edge of pave­ment on con­ven­tion­al high­ways.  The shoring shall be installed imme­di­ate­ly after exca­va­tion of the pit and it shall be designed, erect­ed, sup­port­ed, braced, and main­tained so that it will safe­ly sup­port all ver­ti­cal and lat­er­al loads that may be imposed upon it dur­ing the bor­ing or jack­ing operation.

Wet bor­ing or jet­ting shall not be per­mit­ted under the road­way struc­ture of Coun­ty highways.

Bor­ings over six (6) inch­es (0.15m) in diam­e­ter shall be accom­plished with an auger and fol­low­ing pipe, and the diam­e­ter of the auger and fol­low­ing pipe by more than one (1) inch (25mm).  Bor­ings six (6) inch­es and under may be accom­plished by either jack­ing or auger and fol­low­ing pipe method.  Pits for bor­ing or jack­ing shall be exca­vat­ed no more than forty-eight (48) hours in advance of bor­ing or jack­ing oper­a­tions and back­filled with­in forty-eight (48) hours after bor­ing or jack­ing oper­a­tions are com­plet­ed.  While pits are open, they shall be clear­ly marked and pro­tect­ed by barricades.

(B) Trench­ing.  Trench­ing for util­i­ty instal­la­tion, repair, or main­te­nance on Coun­ty high­way rights of way shall be done in accord with the applic­a­ble por­tions of Sec­tion 603 of the Illi­nois Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion “Stan­dard Spec­i­fi­ca­tions for Road and Bridge Con­struc­tion”.

The length of open trench shall be kept to the prac­ti­ca­ble min­i­mum con­sis­tent with require­ments for pipe-line testing.

Open trench and windrowed exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al shall be pro­tect­ed as required by Chap­ter 6 of the Illi­nois“Man­u­al of Uni­form Traf­fic Con­trol Devices”.  Where prac­ti­ca­ble, the exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al shall be deposit­ed between the road­way and the trench as added protection.

Exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al shall not be allowed to remain on the paved por­tion of the road­way.  Where right of way width does not allow for windrow­ing exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al off the paved por­tion of the road­way, exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al shall be hauled to an off-road location.

(C) Back­fill­ing. Back­fill­ing shall con­sist of refill­ing pits and/or trench­es, exca­vat­ed for the instal­la­tion of util­i­ties, with accept­able mate­ri­als and con­struc­tion meth­ods in accord with the Illi­nois Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion “Stan­dard Spec­i­fi­ca­tions for Road and Bridge Con­struc­tion”.  When exca­vat­ed mate­r­i­al is hauled away or is unsuit­able for back­fill, suit­able gran­u­lar back­fill shall be used.

All trench­es with­in the lim­its of the road­way struc­ture shall be back­filled for their full width, depth, and length with gran­u­lar mate­r­i­al meet­ing the require­ments of Arti­cle 704.07 (approx­i­mate­ly CA 17 gra­da­tion) of the “Stan­dard Spec­i­fi­ca­tions for Road and Bridge Con­struc­tion”.

(D) Pave­ment Cuts.  Pave­ment cuts for util­i­ty instal­la­tion or repair shall not be per­mit­ted on any Coun­ty high­way open for traf­fic.  If a vari­ance is per­mit­ted as cov­ered under Sec­tion 33–1‑6, the fol­low­ing require­ments shall apply:

1. Any exca­va­tion under pave­ments shall be prompt­ly back­filled with gran­u­lar mate­r­i­al meet­ing the require­ments of Arti­cle 704.07 (approx­i­mate­ly CA 17 gra­da­tion) of the State’s “Stan­dard Spec­i­fi­ca­tions for Road and Bridge Con­struc­tion”.
2. Restora­tion for pave­ment, in kind, shall be accom­plished as soon as prac­ti­ca­ble, and tem­po­rary repair with bitu­mi­nous mix­ture shall be pro­vid­ed imme­di­ate­ly.  Any sub­se­quent fail­ure of either tem­po­rary repair or the restora­tion shall be rebuilt upon noti­fi­ca­tion by the Department.

(E) Mate­r­i­al Stor­age on Right of Way.  All pipe, con­duit, wire, poles, cross arms, or oth­er mate­ri­als dis­trib­uted along the high­way pri­or to instal­la­tion shall be placed as remote as prac­ti­ca­ble from the edge of pave­ment in a man­ner to min­i­mize its being a haz­ard to errant vehi­cles or an obsta­cle to high­way main­te­nance.  If mate­r­i­al is to be stored on high­way right of way for more than two (2) weeks pri­or to instal­la­tion, approval must be obtained from the Super­in­ten­dent of High­ways or his duly autho­rized agent.

(F) Oper­a­tional Restric­tions.  Util­i­ty con­struc­tion and/or main­te­nance oper­a­tions on Coun­ty high­way rights of way may be at the dis­cre­tion of the Depart­ment, be required to be dis­con­tin­ued dur­ing peri­ods of inclement weath­er when such oper­a­tions would cre­ate extra­or­di­nary haz­ards to high­way traf­fic.  Such oper­a­tions may also be required to be dis­con­tin­ued or restrict­ed when soil con­di­tions are such that the util­i­ty work would result in exten­sive dam­age to the high­way right of way.

These restric­tions shall be waived when emer­gency work is required to restore vital util­i­ty services.