Transportation Solutions, Engineering Support, Utilities

UTILITY RELOCATION CHECKLIST

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To:	Eric C. Cimo

Utility Engineer

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Project Information

State Contract No.:
Project I.D. No.:
F.A.P. No.:
Location:
County:
Maint. Road Name & No.:
Construction District:

Utility Company Information (To be completed by Utility Coordinator)

Name:
Address:
Contact Person:

No utility impacts or adjustments anticipated as part of the project: ☐

List all utility companies that exist in the project limits and are not impacted in the space below.

Company	Contact Person/Information	Company	Contact Person/Information

Legislation Excerpt for Reference

☐ For advance relocations/MOT [17 Del. C. §143 (f)] If the Department determines that it is beneficial to enter into an agreement with a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility for the alteration or relocation of its facilities in advance of the commencement of a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project, the agreement may include provisions for the Department to reimburse the public utility for increased expenses incurred as a result of the advanced move, including, but not limited to, expenses for the maintenance of traffic, tree and vegetation removal, grubbing, grading, test holes, and surveying.

☐ For reimbursable relocation (easements) [Court of Chancery, State of Delaware, Delmarva Power & Light Co., v.

Terry 194 A.2d 553 1963]

☐ For temporary relocations [17 Del. C. §143 (g)(1)d] The Department shall reimburse a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility for the cost of altering or relocating its facility due to a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project under each of the following circumstances: d. The Department requests a temporary alteration or relocation of the public utility facility.

☐ For second relocation within 10 years [17 Del. C. §143 (g)(1)a] The Department shall reimburse a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility for the cost of altering or relocating its facility due to a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project under each of the following circumstances: a. The Department requires a second alteration or relocation of the same public utility facility within 10 years from the date of completion of the initial alteration or relocation.

☐ For second relocation due to State’s altercation of plans [17 Del. C. §143 (g)(1)b] The Department shall reimburse a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility for the cost of altering or relocating its facility due to a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project under each of the following circumstances: b. The Department alters its plan of construction for the project at any time before its completion, in a manner that requires the public utility to alter or relocate its facility that has already been fully or partially altered or relocated in connection with the project.

☐ For relocations owned by Municipality [17 Del. C. §143 (b)] If required by reason of the construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance of a public highway, the Department of Transportation shall, at its sole expense, make any necessary alteration or relocation of the facilities owned and/or operated by a public utility of a municipality or of any governmental body or political subdivision of the State.

☐ For relocations being done by State’s contractor [17 Del. C. §143 (h)] The Department and a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility may agree to include in a construction contract between the Department and the Department's contractor or subcontractor a provision to identify specific facility alteration or relocation construction items which will be performed by the Department's contractor or subcontractor instead of by the public utility. The construction items may include, but are not limited to, adjusting manholes and installing conduits, valve boxes, and concrete pads. As part of the agreement, the public utility must agree to reimburse the Department or the Department's contractor or subcontractor for the construction items.

☐ For relocations funded at least 90% Federal [17 Del. C. §132 (b)(5)] The Department shall: (5) Reimburse the owner thereof for the expense (as hereinafter defined) of the relocation of public utility facilities necessitated by any project where the State is to be reimbursed by at least 90% of the cost of such project from federal funds or by the federal government or any agency thereof, such expense to be the amount paid by such owner properly attributable to such relocation after deducting therefrom any increase in the value of the new facilities and any salvage value derived from the old facilities.

☐ For relocations needing advance/unique materials [17 Del. C. §143 (e)] If construction specifications for the alteration or relocation of a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility facility, authorized by the Department as part of a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project, require the use of unique materials or supplies, the Department may enter into an agreement with the public utility for the use of the unique materials or supplies in advance of the construction contract. If the public utility is required to store the unique materials or supplies for more than 60 days prior to their incorporation into the construction work, the Department shall enter into an agreement with the public utility to reimburse the public utility for all or a portion of the actual cost incurred for the storage of the unique materials or supplies.

☐ For relocations enhanced for public benefit [17 Del. C. §143 (j)] The Department may enter into an agreement with a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility regarding the alteration or relocation of the public utility's facilities to reimburse the public utility for the public utility's additional expenses incurred due to the enhancement of the public utility's facilities or of its equipment design, location, placement, or specification, if, in the judgment of the Department, the enhancement will result in net cost savings to the Department, will expedite the project, or will otherwise result in increased public benefit and convenience. [This also includes situations when DelDOT will be handling adjustments with highway contractor at our cost in accordance with DGM 3-1]

☐ For relocations part of a major economic development [17 Del. C. §143 (c) and (d)] c) The Department may enter into an agreement with a non-municipal or other non-governmental public utility to reimburse it for up to 50 percent of the cost of the public utility facility's alteration or relocation as part of a highway construction, reconstruction, relocation, repair, or maintenance project if: (1) The existing public utility facility is located within a highway or public right-of-way by grant of franchise; and (2) The alteration or relocation is necessitated by special circumstances, including, but not limited to: a. A major economic development project in which the public utility's cooperation is critical to accomplishing the project in a timely manner; b. Recovery from natural disasters such as storms or floods; or c. Compelling benefit to the traveling public. d) The determination of whether special circumstances exist under subsection (c) (2) of this section vests solely with the Secretary. The Secretary shall make written findings detailing the nature of the special circumstances and the costs and benefits to the State in altering or relocating a public utility facility. The determination of the Secretary is a public record. The Secretary shall forward a copy of the determination to the Public Service Commission for filing with the public records of the Commission.

☐ For utility betterment [23 CFR 645] Betterment is defined as any upgrade to a facility being relocated, made solely for the benefit of and at the election of the utility and not attributed to highway construction. The cost of a betterment or increased size in facilities is only reimbursable in accordance with CFR and FHWA Program Guide: Utility Relocation and Accommodation on Federal Aid Highway Projects or as allowed by specific agreements enabled by DE Code. Typically, the utility company is responsible for all costs associated with betterment.

Please answer the following questions
Project Information	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Is this project sponsored administered (mostly for TA projects)? If yes, then please provide Division/Section/Contact that has the agreement.	PM
Is there an anticipated construction start date, or bid date? If so, please provide and identify which date is provided.	PM
Has the project been advertised? If not, when is the anticipated advertisement date?	PM
Design	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Are final grades shown in construction plan set in the areas where utilities are located and/or impacted?	PM
Have all mark-ups or comments supplied by the utility company been incorporated into the construction plan set?	PM
Was SUE designation and/or test holes obtained for the project and is the information shown in the construction plan set?	PM
Have signal and lighting plans been provided to Utility Section and do they identify service locations and requirements? Meetings are typically required between PM/Designer, Traffic, Utility Coordinator, and Electric Companies to finalize.	PM
Please provide electrical service application date and electric company contact (this can be obtained from Traffic and supplying a completed electrical service application would suffice if available).	PM
Has a project schedule been developed for the project? Please provide anticipated start and completion. This will be needed to coordinate the utility work and finalize the utility bar chart. See questions under “Utility Coordination” portion.	PM
Are utility facilities being left within/under the proposed roadway? If yes, please describe and provide justification.	PM
Please confirm and provide any additional insight to the previous question.	UC
Are existing utility facilities being retired in place? If yes, have contract documents incorporated this work in accordance with the utility regulation, including the installation of RFID markers for future detection?	PM
Please confirm the items outlined in the previous question have been properly identified and outlined in the plans and utility statement, including the requirement that RFID markers be installed.	UC
Environmental Coordination	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Has the NEPA document been approved?	PM
Have the environmental permits been received? If not, when are they anticipated to be received? Note: Advanced relocations are not covered by permits.	PM
Right-of-Way Coordination	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Have all right-of-way acquisitions been completed (TCE, PE, FEE) in the area of the advanced utility relocation? If not, please provide the date when rights-of-entry are anticipated.	PM
Construction Coordination	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Has DelDOT Construction been involved with discussions on construction phasing, and do they agree with how the utility relocation will be incorporated into the project? (provide confirmation from construction in writing)	PM
Has Traffic Safety been involved with discussion on construction phasing, timing of utility work, and associated MOT and work hour restrictions?	PM
Based on coordination between Construction, Design and DelDOT Utilities, is the preference that utility relocation work occur in advance of the project? (provide confirmation from in writing)	PM
If to be done in advance, will inspection of utility relocations be handled by Construction? (provide confirmation from construction in writing)	PM
Survey Stake-out	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Has the necessary survey layout/stakeout been coordinated? (provide copy of internal stakeout request/email or email from utility co. confirming they will provide stakeout)	UC
Has the stakeout been completed? If yes, who completed the survey and when? (provide email confirmation of completion if available)	UC
Funding	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Is the project being paid for with 100% state funds or federal funds? If yes, comment on whether state or federal. If no, please provide funding split. Note – Projects that are 90% to 100% federally funded projects may be grounds for any utility relocation work to be fully reimbursable as outlined in the Legislation excerpt section at the beginning of the checklist. Further discussion will be needed.	PM
If using federal funds, is the state match for the entire project 10% or less? If yes, the note from previous row applies and further discussion is needed.	PM
If using federal funds, are the project estimates shown in the current CTP correct?	PM
Has Primavera Unifier been updated to show reimbursable utility relocation costs based on estimates received from utility companies?	PM
Utility Coordination	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Do we have a final utility relocation design from the company?	UC
Do we have an executed Utility Statement? If yes, please provide execution date and attach statement.	UC
Has a utility relocation bar chart been created? Note, this chart should outline anticipated start and end time and sequencing of utility work. It should also outline the proposed highway contract schedule by phases.	UC
Has the utility relocation bar chart been coordinated with companies, design, construction, etc. and received approval?	UC
Have we coordinated lighting and signal design and service needs/requirements with Traffic and Electric Company?	UC
Are DelDOT electrical service needs/locations/requirements clearly identified in the utility statement?	UC
Have lighting and signals (proposed/existing) been reviewed against existing and proposed utilities to ensure no conflicts?	UC
Will electrical outages be required to perform any work on this project (includes pile installation, bridge work, traffic signal work, etc.)?	UC
Has estimate been received for temporary electric outage?	UC
Utility Relocations	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Is anything associated with utility relocation reimbursable? If yes, please explain what/why.	UC
Have any property interests been identified and has the required documentation (i.e. easements) been supplied by the utility company?	UC
If reimbursable, has a cost estimate been received from the utility company?	UC
If reimbursable, has funding been set up to cover utility relocation	UC
Is clearing and grubbing required for utility work? If so, has DelDOT construction and the utility co. agreed upon how it will be accomplished (state contractor, utility company, etc.)?	UC
If advance clearing and grubbing is required for the utility relocation, and being performed by the utility company, has an estimate been received and what is the cost?	UC
Is MOT required for utility work? If so, who will provide (state contractor, utility company, etc.)?	UC
Is MOT reimbursement being sought by utility company? If so, what is the estimated cost & has a hard copy of the estimate been obtained?	UC
If advanced utility work is anticipated, has there been a meeting held between the utility company, design, traffic safety, and construction to discuss proposed work, MOT, and schedule? Please provide date of meeting and who attended.	UC
Is there an advance MOT and work hours schedule separate from the project MOT? Note – this is something that is needed for each individual utility company depending on the type of work and traffic impacts/MOT required. It needs to be discussed during the coordination process and may require design and/or their consultant to assist. The meeting discussed in the previous row may suffice.	PM
Has Traffic Safety approved the advance MOT and work hours schedule? Who/When?	PM
What is the anticipated start date for the Utility company to begin their relocation?	UC
Who has coordinated the State project between, or on behalf of DelDOT, and the utility?
Utility Company Representative(s):	UC
DelDOT Representative(s) and/or Consultant(s):	UC
Buy America	Resp. Party	Y	N	Additional Comments
Have Federal funds been used, or will they be used for any part of the project planning, design, or construction? If yes, Buy America provisions may apply.	PM
Is the utility company eligible for reimbursement on the project? If yes, Buy America provisions may apply.	UC
Are new utility facilities being permanently installed on the project? If yes, Buy America provisions may apply.	UC
Were the answers to ALL of the previous Buy America questions “yes”? If yes, then Buy America provisions apply.	UC
Are existing utility facilities within the project limits being relocated or adjusted and reused within the project limits? If yes, Buy America provisions do NOT apply to these items	UC
Is the proposed utility work considered temporary? If yes, Buy America provisions do NOT apply.	UC
Is utility relocation work being performed by the highway contractor?	UC
Are materials & products being procured by the highway contractor? If yes, then Buy America provisions to be certified by contractor highway contractor via the contract outside of the Utility Section’s process.	UC
Are materials & products being procured by the utility company? If yes, the utility company responsible to certify Buy America provisions.	UC
Is utility relocation work required to meet the provisions of Buy America?	UE
Has the utility company provided a Buy America list to outline materials and products that do not comply?	UE
Has an estimated cost of non-reimbursable utility work been obtained? If so, please provide.	UE
Is the value of foreign items less than 0.10% of the contract price or $2,500.00 (whichever is greater) based on the estimates and documentation received from the utility company? (Estimates and justification needed)	UE
Has the utility documented that domestic material would increase cost of project by more than 25%? (Estimates needed as backup)	UE
Have federal Buy America waivers been issued?	UE

Responsible Party	Provide justification for ADVANCED utility relocations, including benefits to the Department and the traveling public.
PM

For use by Utility Engineer only:

Reimbursable NTP ☐ Non-Reimbursable NTP ☐ Buy America Certification ☐

MOT/Notes:

I concur with this recommendation:

___________________________	__________

Project Manager	Date

____________________________	__________

Consultant Utility Coordinator	Date

____________________________	__________

DelDOT Utility Coordinator	Date

____________________________	__________

Eric C. Cimo	Date

Utility Engineer

BELOW SIGNATURES REQUIRED FOR ADVANCE RELOCATION WORK

RECOMMENDED:

Monroe Hite, III	Date

Chief, Right-of-way

APPROVED:

Shanté Hastings	Date

Deputy Secretary/Chief Engineer, Transportation Solutions