Columbia Trenchless excavation ordinance (§ 24-173.1)

(a) It shall be unlawful for any entity or person to use trenchless excavation or to direct the performance of trenchless excavation within the city or the service areas, properties, rights-of-way or easements of the city which shall in any way disturb, move, cut, or damage any utility line, cable, pipe, or facility without prior written approval of the owner of the utility or facility. Notwithstanding anything contained in this article to the contrary, the requirements of this section shall apply to both public and privately-owned underground facilities, including facilities owned by the city.

(b) All ROW-users shall comply with the trenchless excavation policy promulgated by the director in addition to the requirements contained in this section.

(c) Methods of trenchless excavation that can be effectively monitored, both vertically and horizontally, by electromagnetic locating methods, or other precise methods, shall be allowed so long as the equipment is calibrated to industry standards and is in good working order.

(d) Unguided trenchless excavation methods such as moles, missiles, hogs, pneumatic gophers, bullet moles, and similar methods shall not be permitted without prior written authorization from the director.

(e) Directional drilling or boring may not begin before 7:00 a.m. or continue later than 3:30 p.m. and may only be conducted on Monday through Friday excluding holidays listed in city code section 19-121 except with prior written approval of the director. These limits shall not apply to other phases of construction such as notification of excavation, potholing, or restoration work.

(f) All bore crossings shall occur at a pothole and the potholed facility must remain visible for inspection until such time as the trenchless excavation is complete and ready for backfill. If it is determined that boring equipment will cross the utility at a different location than the intended pothole, a new pothole at the current location shall be excavated and the utility shall be exposed at the new crossing location. The depth of the boring equipment shall be noted upon the ground in white spray paint at all utility crossing locations. All potholes shall fully expose the crossed utility and twenty-four (24) inches below the bore depth if the crossed utility is confirmed to be below the boring depth. Additional potholing shall be completed along existing utilities where the trenchless alignment parallels an existing facility as set forth in the trenchless excavation policy. Where parallel alignments are closer than six (6) feet to an existing facility, a pothole plan shall be required and must be approved by the director prior to the trenchless excavation work being performed. All potholes under pavement shall be filled within twenty-four (24) hours with flowable fill.

(g)

A ROW-user shall not operate or facilitate the operation of more than two (2) trenchless excavation boring machines simultaneously without obtaining a separate multi-location trenchless excavation permit from the director. Such permit may be approved under the following conditions:

(1) The ROW-user shall file a separate application with the director to obtain a multi-location trenchless excavation permit. The application shall contain detailed information regarding the locations where trenchless excavation boring machines will be utilized along with a plan to utilize services of an independent third-party safety monitor ("Safety Monitor") to oversee active directional boring.

(2) The Safety Monitor shall approve every bore plan prior to boring, monitor each crew during directional boring operations, and oversee no more than four (4) boring machines at one time.

(3) The Safety Monitor shall meet the minimum requirements for a Safety Monitor as set forth in the trenchless excavation policy and shall be approved to serve as a Safety Monitor by the director.

(4) The Safety Monitor shall be present during all pre-construction meeting(s) that include boring sites and be physically present at least once per day with each crew being monitored at boring site(s) when any directional boring operations are taking place. The Safety Monitor shall ensure that the boring crew complies with all best practices, policies, regulations and laws. If the Safety Monitor observes any practices that are contrary to policy, regulation or law, the Safety Monitor shall issue a stop work order and notify the director immediately. Failure to have the required number of Safety Monitors during directional boring work is unlawful and may, in addition to other penalties, result in a stop work order on all sites under excavation by the ROW-user until the required Safety Monitors are provided and approved by the director.

(5) The application for issuance of a multi-location trenchless excavation permit shall be accompanied by an additional fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) plus sixty cents ($0.60) per linear foot of planned trenchless excavation boring.

(g) Any permit, consent or approval of the director may be withdrawn for any reason set forth in section 24- 177 of this Code for revocation of permits.