City of West Haven, CT Article II Construction Specifications for Streets, Sidewalks and Curbs

[Adopted 7-25-1966 by Ord. No. 56]

§ 206-7 Roads, storm drains and sewers.

A. General. All roads must have a traveled portion with a width of at least 30 feet and a right-of-way of at least 50 feet. No roads shall have grades greater than 10%. Materials used in preparation of the subgrade base course, stone course and finished surface shall be as specified.

B. Subgrade. All loam, trees, stumps and roots shall be removed from the fifty-foot right-of-way. Traveled portions of the roadway shall be excavated to at least 17 inches below the proposed finished grade of the pavement. All trees, stumps, roots and boulders shall be removed from the site.

C. Preparation of subgrade. All soft spots shall be compacted with a power roller weighing not less than 10 tons. If the base cakes up and moves under the roller, the spongy, soft area must be removed and replaced with a suitable material and rerolled until it compacts firmly without movement under the roller. The base shall be shaped to conform to the finished grade of the roadway.

D. Storm drains.

(1) All roads shall be properly drained and sufficient culverts and catch basins installed, except that, at the crest of a grade, no portion of any road shall drain in one direction a distance of more than 250 feet without catch basins on both sides of the road.

(2) Culverts shall be of sufficient size to handle a normal maximum amount of water from the area drained. All drainage pipe shall be reinforced concrete and at least 15 inches in diameter, with a minimum of three feet of cover, except as directed by the City Engineer.

(3) Where the contours of lots adjacent to the road are above the road and where subsurface drains exist and where concentrated water from driveways exists, creating icy surfaces on the roadway, the installation of storm drains across the entire area is required, voiding the two-hundred-fifty-foot exception.

(4) Drainage rights through lots shall be at least 20 feet wide, and all drainage to at least 200 feet away from the road shall be piped and covered. Headwalls of concrete, fieldstone or rubble masonry at the ends of pipe shall be three feet below the flow line and a minimum distance of three feet on all sides of the pipe in a vertical plane. Highway posts or guardrails shall be installed where necessary.

E. Sewers, mains and laterals.

(1) All sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water and gas mains must be installed prior to spreading the gravel course on the roadway. This includes sanitary sewer, water and gas main laterals which must be installed to at least three feet inside of the property line on each lot.

(2) It is the responsibility of the developer to notify the Director of Public Works that the subgrade is ready for a check of elevations. These elevations must be checked before gravel may be spread.

F. Gravel course. Gravel shall be subject to the inspection and approval of the Director of Public Works.

(1) The gravel shall be spread in a course of such depth that, after rolling has been completed, it shall be not less than six inches in depth when compacted.

(2) The gravel shall be wetted, if necessary, and rolled with a power roller weighing not less than 10 tons, and wetting and rolling shall be continued until the gravel is thoroughly compacted and the surface conforming to the grade of the roadway.

(3) The developer shall notify the Director of Public Works that the gravel course is completed and ready for inspection. No stone may be spread until this stage of construction has been approved by the Director of Public Works or his authorized agent.

G. Crushed stone base.

(1) One and one-half inches of crushed stone shall be applied, and the same shall be rolled to a thickness of four inches with a power roller weighing no less than 10 tons.

(2) A filler shall be applied consisting of stone dust or a sharp clean sand in sufficient amounts to fill the voids in the course stone, and the same shall be thoroughly wetted, rolled and swept until voids are completely filled.

(3) The finished stone grade shall be [three inches] below the finished grade of the roadway.

(4) The developer shall notify the Director of Public Works that the stone course is completed and ready for inspection. No bituminous concrete material may be applied until this stage of construction has been approved by the Director of Public Works or his authorized agent.

H. Bituminous surface.

(1) Three inches of bituminous concrete shall be applied to the stone base. Said bituminous concrete may be applied in two courses, each 1 1/2 inches in depth.

(2) Bituminous concrete shall be in accordance with the current Connecticut State Highway Department's 152-C surface course, Gr. II, Section 4.02, Form No. 809, Standard Specification, State of Connecticut Highway Department.

I. Monuments. Reinforced concrete monuments six inches square and three feet deep with a cross in the top shall be furnished and set at all street intersections, all angles, curves and all other critical points in street lines. The monuments are to be set in after the road construction has been completed.

J. Slopes. All slopes shall have a pitch of 4:1 where the dropoff is four feet or less. Slopes with drops greater than four feet may be sloped on a pitch of 2:1 with sufficient guardrail protection.

§ 206-8 Concrete sidewalks and driveways.

A. Excavation.

(1) Soft and yielding materials from walk and driveway areas that exist within the confines of the legal lines of the street right-of-way shall be removed.

(2) Sidewalk area to eight inches below the finished grade shall be excavated and backfilled with four inches of gravel base, and four inches of monolithic two-thousand-five-hundred-pound concrete shall be placed on the same. Ten inches below the finished grade for driveways shall be excavated and backfilled with four inches of gravel base, and six inches of monolithic three-thousand-pound concrete shall be placed on the same.

B. Forms. Adequate forms on both sides of sidewalks and driveways shall be set true to street lines and firmly staked.

(1) The width of the sidewalk shall be five feet.

(2) The width of driveways shall be not less than 12 feet.

C. Gravel base. A minimum of four inches of compacted bank-run gravel on area, wetted if necessary, and rolled with a power roller weighing not less than five tons shall be provided.

D. Concrete. A minimum of four inches of monolithic three-thousand-pound mix shall be provided.

E. Finishing. The surface is to be finished with wood trowel marked into five-foot sections, edged with a one-fourth-inch radius edging tool, and expansion joints shall be every 30 feet.

§ 206-9 Bituminous concrete sidewalks and driveways.

A. Excavation. Any existing sidewalk or driveway shall be removed to the required depth below finished grade. All softyielding material shall be removed and replaced with suitable material.

B. Gravel bases of six-inch depth, after compaction, shall be placed between wooden forms on line and grade, allowing two inches for the placing of bituminous concrete.

C. A bituminous concrete surface shall be a hot mix using Type II Standard Specification No. 809, State Highway Department, Article 4.02.03. It shall be rolled with a roller weighing not less than 500 pounds.

D. Sides of the sidewalk shall be backfilled with suitable material thoroughly compacted and finished flush with the top of the sidewalk or driveway.

E. This section will not apply to new developments, whereby concrete sidewalks and driveways govern.

F. Permits shall be required for the installation of all sidewalks. The permits will be issued by the Director of Public Works. There shall be no fee for this permit.

§ 206-10 Concrete curbing.

A. Forms. Adequate forms shall be provided on both sides of curb for the entire depth.

B. Curb depth and height. The curb shall be at least 12 inches below and at least six inches above the finished street grade.

C. Curb width. A curb must be at least seven inches wide at the base, tapering to six inches wide at the top.

D. Concrete. It shall be finished with a three-thousand-pound concrete mix.