Pennsylvania Code › Title 67 - TRANSPORTATION › Part I - Department of Transportation › Subpart B - Nonvehicle Code Provisions › Article III - Highways › Chapter 459 - OCCUPANCY OF HIGHWAYS BY UTILITIES › Section 459.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
						have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
Acknowledgment of completion
-The date on
						which the Department records that permitted work appears to be completed under
						the permit and this chapter.
Adjacent area
-The area surrounding the
						immediate area of the permitted work which can reasonably be assumed to have
						been affected by the permitted work.
Backfill
-Material used to replace or the
						act of replacing material removed during construction.
Base course
-The layer or layers of
						specified or selected material or designed thickness placed on a subbase or a
						subgrade to support a surface course.
Bridge
-A structure including supports,
						erected over a depression or an obstruction, as water, highway or railway,
						which has a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other moving loads and
						having an opening measured along the center of the pavement of more than 20
						feet between supports.
Central permit office
-The office which
						administers this chapter, located at: Department of Transportation, Central
						Permit Office, 400 North Street, 6th Floor, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
						17120-0041.
Clear zone
-The portion of right-of-way
						beyond the pavement edge within which, under Design Manual, Part 5, no new
						obstructions may be located.
County office
-One of the maintenance
						district offices of the Department.
Culvert
-A structure under the pavement
						with an opening of 20 feet or less measured along the center of the
						pavement.
Department
-The Department of
						Transportation of the Commonwealth. The term includes municipalities authorized
						to issue permits for the Department under the authority of a municipal permit
						issuance agreement. If this chapter confers powers or imposes duties upon the
						Department which under a statute may be exercised by or imposed only on the
						Secretary, the reference to the Department shall be construed to mean the
						Department acting by and through the Secretary or the person for the time being
						acting as the Secretary personally.
Design Manual, Part 2
-A Department
						publication containing the Department's highway design criteria.
Design Manual, Part 5
-A Department
						publication containing the Department's utility relocation and accommodation
						policies relating to permits issued in conjunction with highway construction
						projects.
Detour
-To send traffic by a circuitous
						route around a portion of a highway that has been closed in accordance with
						§§
											459.3(f) and
						459.7(7)
						(relating to permit application procedure; and general conditions).
Director
-The bureau director of the
						Department having administrative authority over the central permit
						office.
District engineer
-The engineer in charge
						of one of the 11 district offices.
District office
-One of the 11
						engineering district offices of the Department. The term includes a
						municipality authorized to issue permits for the Department under the authority
						of a municipal permit issuance agreement.
Emergency
-An unforeseen occurrence or
						combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action or remedy.
Emergency Permit Card
-Department Form
						M-940 used under §
											459.6 (relating to emergency
						work).
Emergency repair
-Repair to a utility
						facility undertaken under §
											459.6 to repair damage resulting
						from a vehicle accident or collision with the facility, a failed component or
						storm damage. The term does not include service connections or disconnections
						unrelated to vehicle accident, a failed component or storm damage.
Equipment
-Machinery and equipment,
						together with the necessary supplies for upkeep and maintenance, and tools and
						apparatus necessary for the proper construction and completion of the
						work.
Flexible base pavement
-A pavement
						structure which maintains intimate contact with and distributes loads to the
						subgrade and depends on aggregate interlock, particle friction and cohesion for
						stability.
Grout
-A mixture of cement, water and
						sand.
High early strength concrete
-Cement
						concrete meeting specifications set forth in section 704 of Publication
						408.
Highway
-A highway or bridge on the
						system of State highways and bridges, including the entire width between
						right-of-way lines, over which the Department has assumed or has been
						legislatively given jurisdiction.
Improved area
-The area within the
						right-of-way which has been constructed for highway purposes, including
						roadbed, pavement, shoulders, slope, sidewalks, drainage facilities and other
						appurtenances.
Inspector
-The Department's authorized
						representative assigned to inspect permit operations.
License
-A bridge occupancy license-Form
						M-906L-issued by the Department under this chapter.
Limited access highway
-A highway in
						respect to which owners or occupants of abutting lands and other persons have
						no legal right of access except at points and in the manner determined by the
						Department.
Pavement
-The combination of subbase,
						base course and surface course placed on a subgrade to support the traffic load
						or distribute it to the roadbed, or both. The term normally includes the
						traveled portion of the highway and extends to the face of the curb in a curbed
						section. The term does not include shoulders.
Permit
-
(i) A highway occupancy permit-Form
					 M-945P-issued by a district office under this chapter.
(ii) A highway occupancy permit issued to a
					 utility by a municipality which has entered into a municipal permit issuance
					 agreement with the Department.
(iii) An authorization to occupy highway
					 right-of-way when a utility facility relocation is required by a highway
					 construction project, granted either by written agreement or by a highway
					 occupancy permit-utility relocation (Form D-4181-P) under the Design Manual,
					 Part 5.
Person
-A natural person, firm,
						copartnership, association, corporation, authority or political
						subdivision.
Plans
-Drawings which show the location,
						character and dimensions of the proposed occupancy and related highway
						features, including layouts, profiles, cross sections and other details.
Plowing
-Direct burial of a utility line
						by means of a plow-type mechanism which breaks the ground, places the utility
						line and closes the break in the ground in a single operation.
Private status
-The status of a utility's
						facilities, which are situated within public right-of-way by agreement with the
						Department, after the Department condemned the utility's easement and did not
						provide a substitute right-of-way.
Publication 408
-A Department publication
						containing the Department's highway construction specifications, as
						supplemented.
Right-of-way
-The area which has been
						acquired by the Department for highway purposes.
Rigid base pavement
-A pavement structure
						which distributes loads to the subgrade having as one course a portland cement
						concrete slab of relatively high bending resistance.
Roadbed
-The graded portion of a highway
						within top and side slopes, prepared as a foundation for the pavement and
						shoulder.
Roadway construction
						standards
-Department publication No. 72 containing the Department's
						design standards for highway construction.
Seal coat
-A thin treatment consisting of
						bituminous or other approved material, usually with cover aggregate, applied to
						a surface course.
Secretary
-The Secretary of
						Transportation of the Commonwealth.
Select granular material
or
2
						RC
-A material meeting specifications in section
						703.3 of Publication 408, when
						placed and compacted under §
											459.8(g)
						(relating to special conditions-subsurface operations).
Shoulder
-The existing improved or graded
						portion of the highway, contiguous to the traffic lanes, for accommodation of
						stopped vehicles, for emergency use, or for lateral support of base and surface
						courses of pavements.
Subbase
-The layers of specified or
						selected material of designed thickness placed on a subgrade to support a base
						course.
Subgrade
-The top surface of a roadbed
						upon which the pavement structure and shoulders including curbs are
						constructed.
Suitable material
-Soil, granular
						material or shale meeting specifications in section
						206.2 of Publication 408, when
						placed and compacted under § 459.8(g).
Supplement
-An amendment to a highway
						occupancy permit issued on Department Form M-945S.
Surface course
-One or more layers of a
						pavement structure designed to accommodate the traffic load, the top layer of
						which resists skidding, traffic abrasion, and the disintegrating effects of
						climate. The top layer is sometimes called "Wearing Course."
Tack coat
-An application of bituminous
						material to an existing surface to provide bond with a superimposed
						course.
Test hole
-An exploratory opening of less
						than 100 square inches.
Utility
-A person owning a utility
						facility including any wholly owned or controlled subsidiary.
Utility facility or facility
-Privately,
						publicly or cooperatively owned lines, facilities and systems for producing,
						transmitting or distributing communications, power, electricity, light, heat,
						gas, oil, crude products, coal, water, steam, waste, storm water not connected
						to Department drainage facilities, and other similar commodities including fire
						and police signal systems and street lighting systems, which directly or
						indirectly serve the public or any part thereof.
Vehicle
-Every device which is or may be
						moved or drawn upon a highway.
The provisions of this §
													459.1 amended under sections 411,
						  420 and 702 of the State Highway Law (36 P. S. §§
														670-411,
						  670-420 and
						  670-702).
This section cited in 67 Pa. Code §
													459.8 (relating to special
						  conditions-subsurface operations).