MAY 4, 2015

UTILITY SERVICES IN ROAD SECTIONS

BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
GROUP 5 : PIYUSH SATYARTHI, AKHIL KUMAR, SAIKAT SAHU,
SAMA BHATIKAR, SAIKAT CHATTERJEE

Accommodation of Utility Services

Utility services like electric cables and pipelines for water and sewage should normally not be
located longitudinally within the State Highways/MDRs or other district road right-of-way.
However, the exception to this rule may be made in case of unavailability of space like in
urban roads, where any other location for the services is not possible and unreasonably costly,
provided that the installation within the right of way will not adversely affect the design,
stability and traffic safety .

Conditions to be satisfied for according permission to lay underground

utility lines for Highways, MDRs etc
The utility lines shall be located as close to the extreme edge of the right of way as possible
but not less than 15m from the centre line of the nearest carriageway.
The lines shall be placed so that there is no interference with the maintainace of the
Highways
Depth of laying should not obstruct the drainage of the road land.
The lines shall cross the highways on a line preferably normal to it or as nearly so as
practicable.
Crossings shall not be too near the existing structures, minimum distance being 15 m.
The lines should be permitted to cross the roads either encased in pipes or through structure
or conduits specially built for that purpose.

Casing Pipes
Casing Pipe: Shall consist of steel, cast iron or RCC,strong and large enough to permit ready
withdrwal of the carrier pipe/cable.Ends shall be sealed from outside, so that it does not act as
drainage path.
Methods of Installation
Boring or trenching
Boring is preferred especially where the existing road pavement is of cement concrete
on dense bituminous type.
The casing pipe shall be installed with an even bearing throughout its length in such a
manner as to prevent thhe formation of waterway along it.
Installation by trenching
The sides should be done as nearly vertical as possible.
Bedding of granular material free from lumps, clods and cobbles to a depth not less
than 30 cm should be done to yield a firm surface without sudden changes in the
bearing value
Unsuitable soil and rock edges should be excavated and replace by selected material.
The backfill shall be completed in two phases : Side fill to the level of top of the pipe,
Overfill to the bottom of the road crust.
Side fill shall consist of granular material laid in 15 cm layers each consolidated by
mechanical tampering and controlled addition of moisture to 95% of the Poctors
density. Overfill shall be compacted to the same density as the material that has been
removed

Installation of Casing Pipe under Road

Typical Road Sections of various carriage way widths by UTTIPEC

Section of a road Showing Carriage Way, Central verge,

Green Belt, Pedestrian Pathway and Service road widths

Detailed section at A: Showing details of catch basins, storm water drain,

sewer manhole

Installation of new services near existing services

New underground services often have to be laid in ground that contains existing
services. Where it is reasonably practicable to do so, the utility planning the new
installation should aim to site the new service such that it is separated from all
existing buried services, while still leaving as much room as practicable for other
future services.
Where there is any congestion and doubt regarding adequate separation, the personnel
responsible for the excavation should contact the owner of other services in the
vicinity to discuss both horizontal and vertical clearances.
Where the utility laying the new buried service has to reduce the separation beyond
that specified by the existing service owner, it should discuss this with the service
owner whose service will be affected. This will enable both service owners to
consider other options and modify their records as necessary for future reference.

Some Issues while laying services in Road Sections

Sometimes there is a lack of sufficient space because of the multitude of existing

services which have to be kept live for the full duration of the operation.
The contractor has to ensure that all existing underground services, such as Water,
sewerage, electricity, telecommunications and storm water remained fully operational
at all times. This requires extremely careful work procedures to ensure that these
fragile and essential services were not damaged.
In addition to the service mains under the road, care also has to be taken not to
damage or disturb services to properties adjacent to the road. Maintenance of access
to properties is also a major challenge that has to be dealt with.
Traffic and pedestrian accommodation has to be done by proper sequencing of works.
Extensive hand excavations may become necessary because of the close proximity of
adjacent services and in many instances lack of space to operate a machine.