Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Subtitle 4 - HIGHWAYS DIVISION
Chapter 105 - ACCOMMODATION AND INSTALLATION OF UTILITIES ON STATE HIGHWAYS AND FEDERAL AID COUNTY HIGHWAYS
Subchapter 4 - HIGHWAYS OTHER THAN FREEWAYS
Section 19-105-16 - Underground utility installations

Universal Citation: HI Admin Rules 19-105-16

Current through February, 2024

(a) All utility installations involving pressure pipelines shall comply with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) code for pressure piping B31.1, B31.4 and B31.8. Installation for electric and communication systems shall comply with State of Hawaii "Public Utilities Commission's General Order No. 10" (Hawaii Administrative Rules, title 6, chapter 70).

(b) All utility installations carrying flammable and combustible products shall meet the requirements of the Part 192, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Minimum Federal Safety Standards for Gas Lines; national fire code; State of Hawaii "Public Utilities Commission's General Order No. 9" (Hawaii Administrative Rules, title 6, chapter 69), and local county and state codes and requirements.

(c) The angle of utility crossing shall be generally normal to the highway and it shall not exceed 45 degress from normal.

(d) Longitudinally, utilities shall be located on uniform alignment as near as practicable to the right-of-way line to provide space for future highway construction and for possible future utility installations consistent with good engineering judgment and economic considerations.

(e) In areas where the transverse slopes are gently rolling, cleared, graded and accessible to equipment, a utility shall be installed outside of the roadway cross-section (pavement, shoulder and cut or fill slopes).

(f) In areas where good engineering judgment and economic considerations indicate that it would not be practical to install the utility outside the roadway cross-section, (pavement, shoulder and cut or fill slopes) such as in high cut and fill sections not accessible to equipment, a utility, subject to the approval of the highway utility encroachment committee may be located within the shoulder and median (of a divided highway) areas as provided below:

(1) Shoulder area.
(A) They shall be located as close to the outer edge of shoulder as possible.

(B) In areas where the width of shoulder is B feet or less, no utility shall be permitted to be located within the shoulder for a distance of 2 feet from the normal edge of pavement to the inner edge of trench. See exhibit "H" attached at the end of this chapter.

(C) In areas where the width of shoulder is more than 8 feet, no utility shall be permitted to be located within the shoulder for a distance of 5 feet from the normal edge of pavement to the inner edge of trench. See exhibit "H" attached at the end of this chapter. In the event all available spaces on both shoulders are occupied, considerations may be given to permit a utility within the 5-foot restricted area provided the 2-foot strip as outlined in this chapter is not disturbed.

(2) Median area.
(A) They shall be located as far away from the edge of pavement and as close to the centerline of median as possible, but away from the median ditch.

(B) In areas where the width of median is 16 feet or less, no utility shall be permitted to be located within the median for a distance of 2 feet from the normal edge of pavement to the inner edge of trench. See exhibit "I" attached at the end of this chapter.

(C) In areas where the width of median is more than 16 feet, no utility shall be permitted to be located within the median for a distance of 5 feet from the normal edge of pavement to the inner edge of trench. See exhibit "I" attached at the end of this chapter. In the event all available spaces in the median are occupied, considerations may be given to permit a utility within the 5-foot restricted area provided the 2-foot strip as outlined in this chapter is not disturbed.

(g) Considerations shall be given to the hydraulic gradient factor of a transmission main in determining the location of its occupancy within the highway right-of-way.

(h) In heavily traveled highways, the director may require utility crossings under the roadway to be installed by boring, jacking or tunneling when ground conditions are ascertained to permit economic application of such installation technique.

(i) Utility lines shall be encased or jacketed when deemed necessary by the director. Casing shall consist of a pipe or other separate structure around and outside of the carrier line or duct line and shall be designed to support the load of the highway and superimposed loads thereon, and shall equal or exceed structural requirements for drainage culverts. The casing shall be composed of materials of satisfactory durability under conditions to which they may be exposed. See exhibit "A" attached at the end of this chapter for terminology for encasement and other protection.

(j) All utility lines carrying flammable or explosive materials at a pressure greater than 65 PSIG (pressure per square inch gauge) within the roadway prism shall be provided protective measures as deemed necessary by the highway utility encroachment committee.

(k) A utility, including manholes, shall generally not be permitted to be installed longitudinally within the pavement area of the main traveled way. However, in extreme cases where the entire rights-of-way excluding the pavement areas are fully occupied and the utility has explored other alternative alignment such as rerouting the utility through county streets, considerations will be given to permit the utility to be installed within the pavement area of the main traveled way.

(l) All manholes, handholes, etc., shall be flush with finished grade of roadway including pavement and shoulder.

(m) Fire hydrants, and other ground-mounted utility appurtenances shall meet the lateral clearances outlined in this chapter. The hydrants shall be located so as to be conveniently accessible to firefighting equipment or personnel.

(1) Breakaway type fire hydrants may be left unprotected and delineated with RM-3 hazard markers.

(2) Fire hydrants may be placed within a cut slope just above the ditch line.

(3) In cities, towns and urban areas, on curbed sections, fire hydrants may be located back of the face of curb provided they are of the breakaway type.

(n) No utility shall be permitted in a highway drainage culvert.

(o) The minimum depth of utility lines shall be as follows:

(1) Pavement areas: minimum 3 feet from finished grade of pavement to top of pipe, sleeve or concrete jacket. See exhibits "H", "I", "J", and "K" attached at the end of this chapter.

(2) Under ditches: minimum 2 feet, 1 foot if paved.

(3) All other areas: minimum 3-foot cover.

(4) The highway utility encroachment committee may reduce the 3-foot minimum clearance specified above to 2 feet if ground conditions are ascertained to be of rocky material, provided the utility lines do not encroach into the pavement structure.

(5) The minimum cover of utility service lines under sidewalk areas and areas adjacent to the right-of-way (outside of shoulder and pavement areas) shall be 1 foot 6 inches.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Hawaii may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.