The Table of Contents for this section is available.
(A) General:
The work covered by this section consists of the excavation, placement, and compaction or satisfactory disposal of all materials encountered within the limits of the work necessary for the construction of the roadway which are not to be removed under another contract item.
All excavation shall be in conformity with the lines, grades, and cross sections shown on the plans or established by the Engineer.
Equipment used in performing the grading operation shall be of such weight, size, and capacity to efficiently remove the excavation and construct embankments, subgrades, or shoulders without causing instability or displacement of the underlying or adjacent materials. The Engineer reserves the right to effect the removal from the grading operation of any equipment that is causing instability or displacement of underlying or adjacent materials to the detriment of the section being constructed.
(B) Unclassified Excavation:
All material excavated under this section, regardless of its nature or composition, shall be classified as Unclassified Excavation, except for the following:
1. Undercut Excavation, as provided in Subarticle 2251(C).
2. Material directed by the Engineer to be removed beyond the limits of the original slope stakes.
(C) Undercut Excavation:
The work of Undercut Excavation covered by this section consists of the excavation, placement, and compaction and/or satisfactory disposal of materials removed from a location below the finished grade roadway cross section, except for the following:
1. Rock in the bottom of roadway cuts which has been excavated 1 foot or less below the roadbed and ditches.
2. In cut areas, excavation removed below the outside slopes of roadway ditches.
225-2 EROSION CONTROL REQUIREMENTS.
The Contractor shall perform the work covered by this section and the construction of embankments in such a manner that cut and fill slopes will be completed to final slopes and graded in a continuous operation. The operation of removing excavation material from any cut and the placement of embankment in any fill shall be a continuous operation to completion unless otherwise permitted by the Engineer. The grading operation will not be allowed to accumulate exposed, erodible slope area in excess of 17 acres at any one given time without the contractor's beginning permanent seeding and mulching or other erosion control measures as directed by the Engineer. This exposed area shall at all times, unless otherwise increased or decreased by the Engineer, be kept less than 17 acres. Failure on the part of the Contractor to comply with these provisions will be grounds for suspension of the work in accordance with Article 1087. The suspension will be in effect until such time as the Contractor has satisfactorily performed erosion control measures. If the Contractor fails to perform the directed work, the Engineer may have the work performed in accordance with Article 10516. The Contractor shall begin the installation of erosion control measures as soon as land disturbing activities begin.
If grading operations are suspended for any reason whatsoever, partially completed cut and fill slopes shall be brought to the required slope and the work of seeding and mulching or other required erosion control operations shall be performed.
225-3 UNCLASSIFIED EXCAVATION.
All suitable material removed in the excavation shall be used as far as practicable in the formation of embankments, subgrades, and shoulders and at such other places as may be indicated on the plans or directed by the Engineer.
The wasting of suitable material removed as part of unclassified excavation prior to the completion of embankments will be permitted where the Contractor executes a supplemental agreement documenting the following:
1. The Contractor shall provide and incorporate into the project, at no additional cost to the Department, any material required to complete the project up to the volume wasted. All additional costs for providing and incorporating this material into the work, including engineering costs, shall be exclusively borne by the Contractor, and
2. Any replacement material incorporated into the project shall be either suitable material wasted from the project or approved borrow material, at the Contractor's option, and
3. The Contractor agrees that he shall present no claim for any time arising from the wasting of excess unclassified excavation or for having to replace material wasted from the project which the Department may require to complete the work, and
4. The Contractor specifically waives his rights to request additional compensation with regard to wasting unclassified excavation under the compensation provisions of Section 104 as a result of wasting suitable unclassified excavation and providing replacement material required to complete the work except when unclassified excavation is a major contract item, as defined in Article 10153, and when unclassified excavation underruns by more than 25%.
Where the work required to complete the project is so phased by the plans to preclude utilizing suitable unclassified excavation, the Contractor will be permitted to waste suitable unclassified excavation where the utilization is precluded by the phasing without having to execute the above required supplemental agreement.
The Engineer will designate materials that are unsuitable. The Contractor shall furnish disposal areas for the unsuitable material except where the Engineer permits the use of such material in the widening or flattening of fill slopes.
Where suitable materials containing excessive moisture are encountered above grade in cuts, the Contractor shall construct above grade ditch drains prior to the excavation of the cut material when in the opinion of the Engineer such measures are necessary to provide proper construction.
Upon execution of a supplemental agreement containing conditions listed, below, the Contractor may waste suitable unclassified excavation and replace it with approved borrow material.
1. All suitable unclassified excavation needed to construct the project which was wasted will be replaced by the Contractor with approved borrow material.
2. Any and all additional costs associated with the wasting of the unsuitable unclassified excavation and the replacing of it with borrow material, including any additional engineering costs to the Department, will be borne exclusively by the Contractor.
3. The execution of a supplemental agreement allowing the Contractor to waste suitable unclassified excavation and replace it with approved borrow material shall operate as a bar to any claim by the Contractor for any time extensions related to the wasting and replacement operation described in the agreement.
4. The Contractor specifically waives his rights to request additional compensation with regard to wasting unclassified excavation under the compensation provisions of Section 104 as result of substituting suitable borrow material and wasting suitable unclassified excavation.
Where the contract includes earth shoulder construction, suitable surplus material shall be stockpiled for use in the shoulders. To the extent possible topsoil shall be salvaged from within the limits of the slope stake lines and stored in stockpiles. Before the topsoil is removed, the areas shall be cleared of all weeds, brush, stumps, stones and other debris. The topsoil shall be removed from only such areas and to only such depths as required by the plans or directed by the Engineer. Care shall be exercised to avoid mixing subsoil or other unsuitable material with the topsoil. It will be the Contractor's responsibility to stockpile an adequate quantity of material to construct the proposed shoulder before wasting any suitable surplus material. The stockpiles shall be located along the project at approved locations. Each stockpile, when completed, shall be neatly dressed by bulldozers or other equipment. Temporary or permanent seeding shall be performed on the stockpiles when directed by the Engineer. Any surplus material remaining in the stockpile after the shoulders have been completed shall be removed and disposed of as provided below for waste matter.
Waste material shall be disposed of in accordance with Section 802.
The intersection of slopes with natural ground surfaces, including the beginning and ending of cut slopes, shall be uniformly rounded as shown on the plans or as may be directed by the Engineer. Concurrent with the excavation of cuts the Contractor shall construct intercepting berm ditches or earth berms along and on top of the cut slopes at locations shown on the plans or designated by the Engineer. All slopes shall be finished to reasonably uniform surfaces acceptable for seeding and mulching operations. No rock or boulders shall be left in place which protrude more than 1 foot within the typical section cut slope lines, and all rock cuts shall be cleaned of loose and overhanging material. All protruding roots and other objectionable vegetation shall be removed from slopes.
Where a cut has been finished and the slopes dressed in accordance with the plans and slope stakes, the Contractor will not be required to flatten or widen the slopes of a completed cut unless the order is given in writing by the Engineer prior to the Contractor beginning the work. When rock is unexpectedly encountered any widening or flattening already begun shall be transitioned to leave the cut with a pleasing appearance.
The Contractor may be required to investigate the top 12 inches of the subgrade in cut sections to determine the necessity for rock undercut. This investigative work will be paid for in accordance with Article 1047.
When so directed by the Engineer, rock in the bottom of roadway cuts shall be excavated to a depth of 1 foot below the roadbed and ditches. Ditches shall be lowered if necessary so that water will drain from the rock surface to the ditches. Upon completion of the rock excavation below the level of the roadbed and ditches, the areas where such rock has been removed shall be backfilled with suitable material, compacted, and shaped to the required grade and cross section.
All rock under and adjacent to structure sites shall be excavated to limits directed by the Engineer prior to any work being begun on the structure.
All cuts shall be brought to the grade and cross section shown on the plans, or established by the Engineer, prior to final inspection and acceptance by the Engineer.
Slides and overbreaks which occur prior to final acceptance of the project due to natural causes shall be removed and disposed of by the Contractor as directed by the Engineer. Where slides or overbreaks occur due to negligence or carelessness on the part of the Contractor, the Contractor shall remove and dispose of the material at no cost to the Department.
All excavation done in the shaping of old roadways to produce a pleasing appearance in accordance with the provisions of Section 808 shall be included as Unclassified Excavation.
Where it is necessary for utility poles or guy wires to remain in their original location, and where such poles are within the project construction limits, the Contractor shall conduct his earthwork operations in a manner which will not disturb these facilities.
The Contractor shall, as directed by the Engineer, cut off and plug all private utility lines, remove existing shoulder drain and subdrain pipe and remove all underground tanks intercepted within the typical section or in conflict with construction.
Where it is necessary to remove existing sidewalks or driveways, the Contractor will be required to furnish a neat edge along the pavement retained by sawing a neat line approximately 2 inches deep with a concrete saw before breaking the adjacent pavement away.
When the Contractor's excavation operations encounter graves, the operations shall be temporarily discontinued in the vicinity of the graves and not resumed until so directed by the Engineer.
When the Contractor's excavation operations encounter artifacts of historical or archeological significance, the operations shall be temporarily discontinued in the vicinity of the artifacts and not resumed until so directed by the Engineer. Disposition of the artifacts shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Division of Archives and History.
When the Engineer determines that the natural soil materials in areas where fills are to be placed are undesirable in their location or condition, the Engineer may require the Contractor to remove the undesirable material and backfill with approved material properly compacted.
When the Engineer determines that the finished graded roadway cross section contains materials which are undesirable in their location or condition, the Engineer may require the Contractor to remove the materials and backfill with approved properly compacted material to the finished graded section.
At locations where unstable soil is shown on the plans, the removal and replacement of such soil shall be as directed on the plans or as directed by the Engineer.
Where undercutting is required adjacent or beneath the location of the proposed drainage structure, undercut and backfill shall be done over a sufficient distance adjacent to the installation to prevent future operations from disturbing the completed drainage structure.
Equipment utilized in undercutting and backfilling operations shall be of such weight, size, and capability to efficiently remove and replace the material within the limits established by the Engineer. Equipment of a size and weight which will displace the underlying or adjacent material will not be permitted.
All material removed in the work of undercut excavation will be classified by the Engineer as either suitable for other use without excessive manipulation and utilized by the Contractor elsewhere in the work, or unsuitable for further use and disposed of by the Contractor as directed by the Engineer.
The Contractor shall conduct undercut operations in such a way that the Engineer can take the necessary measurements before any backfill is placed.
Backfill in undercut areas shall be placed as a continuous operation along with the undercutting operation. No backfill material shall be placed in water unless otherwise permitted by the Engineer.
A tolerance of plus or minus 0.10 foot from the established grade will be permitted in the roadbed after it has been graded to a uniform surface.
The Contractor shall be responsible during construction and until final acceptance for the maintenance of all work covered by this section.
During construction and until final acceptance the Contractor shall shape the excavated surface to provide for the drainage of surface runoff along and throughout the length of the cut, shall construct temporary ditches, and use any other methods necessary to maintain the work covered by this section so that the work will not contribute to excessive soil erosion.
The quantity of excavation to be paid for will be the actual number of cubic yards of materials, measured in their original position and computed by the average end area method, which have been acceptably excavated in accordance with the plans and specifications. Original cross sections for the determination of excavation quantities will be taken before any grading begins. Final cross sections will be taken after the excavation has been completed except that the plan typical sections will be used for the final cross sections where, in the opinion of the Engineer, the work has been constructed in reasonably close conformity to the plan typical section.
Original and final cross sections will be taken by either ground or aerial survey methods, as determined by the Engineer.
All materials which the Contractor has been directed to excavate from a location below the finished grade roadway cross section will be classified as undercut excavation and will be measured separately except for the following:
1. Rock in the bottom of roadway cuts which has been excavated 1 foot or less below the roadbed and ditches.
2. In cut areas, undercut excavation will be limited to excavation removed below the roadbed, removed below the inside slopes of roadway ditches, and removed below the bottom of flat bottom roadway ditches.
When the contract does not include the item of "Drainage Ditch Excavation," measurement of drainage ditch excavation will be made under this section in accordance with the methods prescribed in Subarticle 2404(A).
Measurement of materials excavated from overbreaks or slides will be made except where the overbreaks or slides were due to the negligence or carelessness of the Contractor.
No measurement will be made of any materials excavated outside of authorized excavation limits established by the Engineer, or any materials excavated before slope stakes have been set.
The quantities of excavation, measured as provided for in Article 225-7, will be paid for at the contract unit prices per cubic yard for "Unclassified Excavation" or "Undercut Excavation."
Where the contract does not include the item of "Drainage Ditch Excavation," payment for this class of excavation will be made at the contract unit price per cubic yard for "Unclassified Excavation."
Construction of berm ditches will be paid for as "Berm Ditch Construction: as provided in Article 2405.
Materials excavated from stockpiles and used to construct earth shoulders will be paid for as "Shoulder Borrow" as provided for in Article 5605. No payment will be made for the removal and disposal of any surplus material remaining in the stockpile after the shoulders have been completed.
Rock in the bottom of roadway cuts which has been excavated 1 foot or less below the roadbed and ditches will be paid for at the contract unit price per cubic yard for "Unclassified Excavation."
Payment for material that the Engineer directs to be removed beyond the limits of the original slope stakes will be made in accordance with Article 1043.
The above prices and payments will be full compensation for all work covered by this section, including but not limited to excavation; blasting, hauling anywhere along the project both within and across balance points shown on the plans; removal of undesirable material; removal of sidewalk, driveways, curb and gutter, endwalls, traffic islands and drainage structures; disposal of materials; formation and compaction of embankments, subgrades and shoulders; breaking up of pavement beneath embankment; the cutting off, plugging, and removal of private utility lines and underground tanks and any backfilling required; removing any existing shoulder drain or subdrain pipe and maintaining the work.
Payment will be made under:
Unclassified Excavation Cubic Yard
Undercut Excavation Cubic Yard