There is hereby established a Streets Department
in and for the City of Salem. The Council shall provide for such employees
as shall be deemed necessary for the efficient operation of the Department
and shall appoint one employee in charge, hereinafter referred to
as the "Street Superintendent." The Council shall designate the duties
and responsibilities of the Department. The Council shall annually
appoint a committee of its members to oversee the Department and shall
designate a Chairman of the committee.
Where sidewalks, curbs or gutters have been
constructed on streets in the City of Salem, they shall be maintained
by the property owner in a smooth and safe condition.
If the property owner fails to make the specified
repairs and to make safe sidewalks, curbs or gutters within 30 days
after official notice from the City Clerk, the city may proceed to
make the repairs and assess the cost thereof against the property
as a municipal improvement.
Nothing in this Article shall remove the responsibility
of the property owner to properly protect his property and to maintain
sidewalks, curbs or gutters in a safe condition.
All repair work to be done under supervision
of the City Engineer.
New construction or reconstruction of sidewalks,
curbs and gutters (as differentiated from minor repair work covered
by this Article) shall be in accordance with standard specifications
for construction of concrete curbs and gutters and brick and concrete
sidewalks.
All curbs, gutters and sidewalks constructed
or reconstructed in the streets and roads of the City of Salem shall
conform to the following specifications and dimensions:
A. Subgrade. The subgrade shall be well drained and compacted
to a firm surface having a uniform bearing power. Any rock or large
stone in the subgrade shall be removed and replaced with the typical
subgrade soil. It shall be wet down so as to be moist immediately
before concrete is placed. The subgrade for sidewalks shall consist
of not less than four inches of sandy gravel or crushed stone.
B. Materials. All materials used in the construction
or reconstruction of curbs, gutters or sidewalks shall meet the requirements
of the current specifications governing materials of the New Jersey
Department of Transportation and be approved by the City Engineer.
C. Strength.
(1) All concrete for curbs, gutters and sidewalks shall
be ready-mixed concrete unless otherwise approved by the City Engineer.
In either case, concrete shall be equal to New Jersey Department of
Transportation specifications for Class B concrete for curbs and gutters
and for Class C concrete for sidewalks. Curb and gutter concrete shall
contain at least six and one-half (61/2) sacks of cement per cubic
yard of concrete and shall obtain at least four-thousand-pound-per-square-inch
strength in 28 days. Sidewalk concrete shall contain at least six
sacks of cement per cubic yard of concrete and shall obtain at least
three-thousand-five-hundred-pound-per-square-inch strength in 28 days.
All concrete shall have a maximum water content of five and one-half
(51/2) gallons per sack of portland cement, including free water contained
in its aggregates. Concrete shall have a slump of between two and
four inches with a maximum of three-inch slump for concrete curbs.
(2) Air-entraining agents shall be used to provide an
air content of 6%, plus or minus 1%.
(3) For ready-mixed concrete, the producer shall certify
that the concrete meets the above specifications, including the quantities
of materials used in making the concrete, together with the designed
slump and air content.
(4) Job-mixed concrete will not be permitted except under
special conditions. Job-mixed concrete shall produce concrete equivalent
to ready-mixed concrete, and the mixing and equipment shall meet the
approval of the City Engineer.
D. Finishing. Concrete deposited in the forms shall be
thoroughly tamped and vibrated into place in such a manner that the
forms are entirely filled, and the concrete thoroughly compacted,
and no honeycombing shall exist.
(1) For sidewalks. After compacting the concrete in the
forms, it shall be struck off even with the tops of the forms with
a screed. The surface shall then be finished with a magnesium float
or darby, leveling any raised spots and filling depressions. Side
edges shall be rounded with an edger.
(2) For curb and gutters. Before initial set, the top
surface shall be finished with a magnesium float to a smooth, even,
dense finish. As soon as the setting of the concrete will permit the
removal of the forms as directed by the Engineer, they shall be removed,
and the front face shall be finished with a moist wood tool. No tool
marks are to be left on exposed edges.
E. Dimensions. All curbs and gutters shall be constructed
of concrete unless specific approval for other material is given by
the engineer. The dimensions of combination curb and gutters shall
be six inches at the top of the curb with the face of the curb on
a one-and-one-half-inch batter, six inches deep to the gutter, unless
otherwise directed by the Engineer. The gutter shall be eight inches
thick and extend at least 24 inches from the back of the curb. Corners
at curb intersections are to be rounded with a curve of not less than
12 feet radius for sidewalks which are nine or more feet in width
and, for sidewalks six to nine feet in width, a curve of not less
than 10 feet radius. On sidewalks less than six feet in width, the
curve radius will be constructed as directed by the Engineer.
F. Curing.
(1) Concrete shall be cured by covering all exposed surfaces
as soon as practicable with a waterproof paper or polyethylene sheets,
suitably weighted down to prevent evaporation of water in the concrete
or by spraying on a white-pigmented curing compound applied at the
rate recommended by the manufacturer. The waterproof paper or polyethylene
shall remain in place for a period not less than five days. The curing
compound and its rate of application shall be approved by the Engineer.
(2) In extremely hot weather, extra care shall be exercised
to avoid high temperatures in the fresh concrete and to prevent drying
of the newly placed concrete. Exposed surfaces with no precautions
being taken to provide protection for the concrete will not be tolerated.
G. Separate curb. Should a separate curb be installed,
the dimensions for a separate concrete curb shall be six inches wide
at the top and eight inches at the bottom and the depth of the curb
shall be 18 inches.
H. Driveways. The curb on driveways shall rise one and
one-half (11/2) inches above the gutter. The joint shall be of bituminized
felt or sheets of solid bitumen such as is used in standard pavement
expansion joints and shall meet the requirements of the New Jersey
Department of Transportation and be approved by the City Engineer,
and it shall be not less than one-half (1/2) inch in thickness. Where
concrete sidewalks abut buildings or copings, they shall be separated
by expansion joints of not less than one-half (1/2) inch thickness
and of the same depth as the abutting sidewalks of the same specifications
as called for above. Contraction joints shall be provided at ten-foot
intervals for curbs and gutters and for sidewalks at intervals equivalent
to the sidewalk width, but not more than five feet.
All concrete sidewalks shall be at least four
inches thick. Concrete sidewalks shall be finished with a "nonskid"
surface. The slope of the concrete sidewalk from the top of curb shall
be not less than three-sixteenths (3/16) inch and no more than three-eights
(3/8) inch per foot. Sidewalks shall be installed not less than five
feet in width.
[Amended 10-16-1995 as Ord. No. 95-15]
All persons shall make written application to
the City Treasurer before constructing any curb, gutter or sidewalk
in the streets or roads of the city, stating location and approximate
length, and the City Treasurer shall issue permit therefor, said permit
to be kept on the job during construction. The fee for permit shall
be $25. No curb, gutter or sidewalk shall be constructed or reconstructed
in the streets or roads of the city until lines and grades have been
provided by the City Engineer.
Any stump or other obstruction in the sidewalk
shall be removed on notice from the City Engineer.
An allotment of $1 per linear foot of gutter
shall be made by the City of Salem to the owner installing the original
gutter in accordance with this Article.
Any person or persons installing any curbs,
gutters or sidewalks not in accordance with the above specifications
shall stop such installation upon written notice from the City Engineer
and shall remove condemned work within 10 days after said notice.
[Amended 10-16-1995 as Ord. No. 95-15; 7-20-2020 by Ord. No. 20-06]
Any person violating this article shall, upon conviction, be
subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $2,000; or imprisonment
in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days or by a period
of community service not exceeding 90 days. Any person who is convicted
of violating this article within one year of the date of a previous
violation of the same article and who was fined for the previous violation,
shall be sentenced by a court to an additional fine as a repeat offender.
The additional fine imposed by a court upon a person for a repeated
offense shall not be less than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine
fixed for a violation of the article, but shall be calculated separately
from the fine imposed for the violation of the article.