New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 16 - TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 25 - UTILITY ACCOMMODATION › Subchapter 2 - DEFINITIONS › Section 16:25-2.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
				  shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Adjustment" means the alteration or relocation of utility
				  facilities to accommodate the construction of highway improvement
				  projects.
"Arterial highway" means a highway primarily for through
				  traffic, usually a continuous route.
" As-built plans" means drawings showing the actual locations
				  of installed or relocated utilities.
"Backfill" means the replacement of suitable material around
				  and over a pipe, conduit system, or direct buried cable.
"Bedding" means the soil or other suitable material to
				  support a pipe, conduit system, or direct buried cable.
"Border area" means the space between the outer edge of a
				  shoulder, curb line, or gutter line and the right-of-way line.
"Boring" means a method for installing pipes underground
				  without disturbing the surface using an auger to penetrate the ground and
				  remove soil, while jacking a pipe just behind the cutting head.
"Bury" means the depth as measured from the top of a pipe,
				  conduit system, or direct buried cable to the grade of a roadway or
				  roadside.
"Cable television company" or "CATV company" means any person
				  or group of persons who provides cable service over a cable system and directly
				  or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such cable
				  system; or who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any
				  arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system.
"Cap" means the rigid structural element covering a pipe or
				  conduit system.
"Carrier" means a pipe directly enclosing a transmitted fluid
				  (liquid or gas), including service lines.
"Casing" or "encasement" means a structural element
				  surrounding a carrier or conduit.
"Clear zone area" means that roadside border area, starting
				  at the edge of the traveled way, available for safe use by errant
				  vehicles.
"Coating" means the material applied to, or wrapped around, a
				  pipe.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the New Jersey
				  Department of Transportation, or such other person as the Commissioner may
				  designate, when legally permissible.
"Conduit" or "duct" means an enclosed tubular runway for
				  protecting wires or cables.
"Control of access" means the condition where the right of
				  owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons to access, light, air, or
				  view in connection with a highway is controlled by the Department to give
				  preference to through traffic either:
1. Fully, with access connections at selected public roads
				  and with prohibited crossings at grade and prohibited direct driveway
				  connections; or
2. Partially, with some crossings at grade and some driveway
				  connections in addition to access connections at selected public roads.
"Curb line" means the edge of the paved surface of the
				  roadway where it meets a raised curb.
"Department" means the New Jersey Department of
				  Transportation.
"Drain" means an appurtenance to discharge liquid seepage
				  from casings.
"Driving" means a method for installing pipes underground
				  without disturbing the surface by using a small pipe with a pilot shoe that can
				  be driven through compressible soils by steady thrusting, hammering, or
				  vibrating.
"Facility" or "facilities" means all plant and equipment
				  owned or operated by a utility.
"Federal-Aid roads" means roads that are included on the
				  Federal-Aid Road System and eligible for Federal funds, either as part of the
				  National Highway System or the FHWA Surface Transportation Program. Federal-Aid
				  roads are, collectively: all primary arterials, all minor arterials, all urban
				  collectors, and all rural major collectors.
"Fiber optic cable" means a communication cable utilizing
				  hair-thin strands of ultra-pure glass, plastic, or other transparent material
				  that can carry high volumes of information via lightwave signals.
"Fiber optic duct bank" means a conduit or duct to be
				  exclusively occupied by fiber optic cable.
"Frontage road" means a local street or road auxiliary to and
				  located on the side of an arterial highway for service to abutting property and
				  adjacent areas and for control of access.
"Grounded" means connected to the earth or to some extended
				  conducting body that serves as a conductor to earth whether the connection is
				  intentional or accidental.
"Grout" means a cement mortar or a slurry of fine sand or
				  clay.
"Handhole" means a small chamber, which:
1. Provides access to a splice enclosure;
2. Is placed periodically along a conduit to provide smooth
				  safe cable installation; or
3. Stores excess cable for maintenance purposes.
"High pressure" means a gas or liquid petroleum pipeline that
				  operates, or may reasonably be expected to operate in the future over 60 psig
				  pressure.
"Highway," "street," or "road" means a public way owned or
				  under the jurisdiction of the Department, including the entire area within the
				  right-of-way, for purposes of travel.
"Highway occupancy permit" or "permit" means a permit,
				  approved by the Commissioner, issued for any construction, major maintenance,
				  or relocation work by utilities on right-of-way or property under the
				  jurisdiction of the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 16:41.
"Horizontal Directional Drilling" or "HDD" means a steerable
				  trenchless method of installing underground pipes, conduits, and cables in a
				  shallow arc along a prescribed bore path by using a surface launched drilling
				  rig, with minimal impact on the surrounding area.
"Interchange" means a system of interconnecting roadways in
				  conjunction with one or more grade separations, providing for the movement of
				  traffic between two or more roadways.
"Intersection" means the area where two or more highways join
				  or cross, including the roadway and roadside facilities for traffic movements
				  within the area.
"Jacking" means a method for installing pipes underground
				  without disturbing the surface by pushing a pipe horizontally by mechanical
				  means without boring.
"Limited access highway" means a State highway, especially
				  designed for through traffic, over which abutting lot owners have no right to
				  access the highway.
"Local public agency" means a county, municipal, or city
				  government agency.
"Manhole" means an opening in an underground system providing
				  access to utility facilities for the purpose of making installations,
				  inspections, repairs, connections, and tests. The term includes chambers or
				  vaults.
"Mechanically stabilized earth walls" or "MSE" means
				  retaining walls consisting of horizontal soil reinforcing elements and a facing
				  to prevent erosion.
"Median" means the portion of a divided highway separating
				  the traveled ways for traffic moving in opposite directions.
" Non-wooden pole" means a pole made of materials including,
				  but not limited to, the following: steel, concrete, fiberglass, and
				  glue-laminated wood.
"Pavement structure" means the combination of subbase, base
				  course, and the surface course placed on a subgrade to support the traffic load
				  and distribute it to the roadbed.
"Pipe" or "pipeline" means a formed hollow cylinder used for
				  the conveyance of liquids or gases. Cylinders fabricated from plate are not a
				  pipe.
"Pressure" means the relative internal pressure in psig
				  (pounds per square inch gauge).
"Private utility" means any utility that is not within the
				  general jurisdiction, supervision, and control of or otherwise regulated by the
				  Board of Public Utilities or a utility owned and operated by private citizens
				  or concerns that is not otherwise identified or regulated by the Board of
				  Public Utilities.
"Public utility" means an entity as defined in
				  48:2-13.a, including cable
				  television as regulated under
				  48:5A-1 et seq. A public, private,
				  or cooperatively owned company that enters into a contract with a public
				  utility shall not be considered a public utility on the basis of that
				  contract.
"Right-of-way" means State highway property and property
				  rights, including easements, owned and controlled by the Department.
"Roadside" means the area adjoining the outer edge of the
				  roadway. Extensive areas between the roadways of a divided highway may also be
				  considered roadside.
"Roadway" means the portion of a highway, including
				  shoulders, for vehicular use. A divided highway has two or more
				  roadways.
"Scenic overlook" means a roadside area provided for
				  motorists to stop their vehicle beyond the shoulder, primarily for viewing the
				  scenery in safety.
"Single wooden pole type of construction" means a type of
				  construction where no wooden pole shall be closer than 10 feet to any other
				  wooden or non-wooden pole.
"Sleeve" means a short casing through a pier or abutment of a
				  highway structure, wall, etc.
"Subgrade" means all underlying soils beneath the pavement
				  structure.
"Surfaced area" means the area that has been covered with
				  manmade materials to provide a firm surface upon which to walk or drive.
"Transmission facilities" means high voltage electric lines,
				  wire or cable (including supporting structures) and appurtenant facilities
				  (usually with a rating of 69 kilovolts or above) that transmit energy from one
				  generating plant to electric substations or switching stations.
"Transmittant" means gasses or liquids distributed through a
				  system of pipes.
"Traveled way" means the portion of the roadway for the
				  movement of vehicles, exclusive of shoulders, auxiliary lanes, and bicycle
				  lanes.
"Trenched" means installed in an open excavation.
"Trenchless" means installed without breaking the ground or
				  pavement surface, except at the entrance and exit point, such as by jacking,
				  boring, horizontal directional drilling, coring, plowing, pipe ramming, pipe
				  bursting, or micro-tunneling.
"Utility" means a privately, publicly, or cooperatively owned
				  facility for producing, transmitting, or distributing communications, cable
				  television, power, electricity, light, heat, gas, oil, crude products, water,
				  steam, waste, stormwater not connected with highway drainage, or any other
				  similar commodity, including any fire or police signal system or street
				  lighting system, that directly or indirectly serves the public. The term
				  "utility" shall also mean the utility owner or the utility company inclusive of
				  any wholly owned or controlled subsidiary. The term "utility" or "utilities"
				  when used in this chapter is intended to reference both public and private
				  utilities unless otherwise individually specified.
"Utility agreement" means the document by which the
				  Department enters into an agreement with a public utility, a private utility, a
				  cable television company, a utility not covered by N.J.S.A. Title 48, or a
				  utility having compensable property rights for the installation, removal,
				  and/or relocation of its facilities. The utility agreement further serves as
				  the permit to occupy the highway right-of-way and specifies the requirements
				  for, and the conditions of, said occupancy.
"Vent" means an appurtenance by which fluids or gases between
				  a carrier pipe and a casing may be inspected, samples exhausted, or evacuated
				  usually through risers or standpipes projecting above the ground
				  surface.
"Waiver" means the Department's intentional relinquishment of
				  its rights to wholly enforce provisions of this chapter. Waivers may reduce,
				  modify, or eliminate requirements.
"Wooden pole" means the stem of a tree which has the proper
				  natural characteristics to meet the engineering and design standards to support
				  a utility line; and has been harvested, shaped, treated, and certified to meet
				  that need.