North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 07 - Coastal Management › Subchapter H - STATE GUIDELINES FOR AREAS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN › Section .2300 - GENERAL PERMIT FOR REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING BRIDGES AND CULVERTS IN ESTUARINE WATERS, ESTUARINE AND PUBLIC TRUST SHORELINES, PUBLIC TRUST AREAS, AND COASTAL WETLANDS › Section 07H .2305 - SPECIFIC CONDITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) This general
				  permit is applicable to bridge replacement projects spanning no more than 400
				  feet of estuarine water, public trust area, and coastal wetland AECs.
(b) Existing roadway deck width shall not be
				  expanded to create additional lanes, with the exception that an existing one
				  lane bridge may be expanded to two lanes where the Department of Environment
				  and Natural Resources determines that authorization is warranted and the
				  proposed project does not significantly affect the quality of the human and
				  natural environment or unnecessarily endangers adjoining properties.
(c) Replacement of existing bridges with new
				  bridges shall not reduce vertical or horizontal navigational
				  clearances.
(d) All demolition
				  debris shall be disposed of landward of all wetlands and the normal water level
				  (NWL) or normal high water (NHW) level (as defined in
				  15A NCAC
				  07H .0106), and shall employ soil
				  stabilization measures to prevent entry of sediments in the adjacent water
				  bodies or wetlands.
(e) Bridges and
				  culverts shall be designed to allow passage of anticipated high water
				  flows.
(f) Measures sufficient to
				  restrain sedimentation and erosion shall be implemented at each site.
(g) Bridge or culvert replacement activities
				  involving excavation or fill in wetlands, public trust areas, and estuarine
				  waters shall meet the following conditions:
(1) Replacing bridges with culverts shall not
				  be allowed in primary nursery areas as defined by the Marine Fisheries or
				  Wildlife Resources Commissions.
(2)
				  The total area of public trust area, estuarine waters, and wetlands to be
				  excavated or filled shall not exceed 2,500 square feet except that the coastal
				  wetland component shall not exceed 750 square feet.
(3) Culverts shall not be used to replace
				  bridges with open water spans greater than 50 feet.
(4) There shall be no temporary placement or
				  double handling of excavated or fill materials within waters or vegetated
				  wetlands.
(5) No excavated or fill
				  material shall be placed in any wetlands or surrounding waters outside of the
				  alignment of the fill area indicated on the work plat(s).
(6) All excavated materials shall be confined
				  above NWL or NHW and landward of any wetlands behind dikes or other retaining
				  structures to prevent spill-over of solids into any wetlands or surrounding
				  waters.
(7) No bridges with a
				  clearance of four feet or greater above the NWL or NHW shall be allowed to be
				  replaced with culvert(s) unless the culvert design maintains the existing water
				  depth, vertical clearance and horizontal clearance.
(8) If a bridge is being replaced by a
				  culvert(s) then the width of the waterbody shall not be decreased by more than
				  40 percent.
(9) All pipe and
				  culvert inverts placed within the Public Trust or the Estuarine Waters AECs
				  shall be buried at least one foot below normal bed elevation to allow for
				  passage of water and aquatic life. Culverts placed in wetlands are not subject
				  to this requirement.