ROW Utilities Manual: District Approval of Utility Agreements

Section 2: District Approval of Utility Agreements

Authority

TxDOT District Engineer, or designee, has approval authority for Utility Agreement Assemblies, Supplemental Utility Agreements, and Emergency Work Authorizations.

The following items are required for a District to initiate local approval of a Utility Agreement Assembly. The District must:

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obtain ROW Division Project Release;

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create a Utility ID;

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environmental clearance;

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approve utility consultant engineering contract, if applicable;

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verify corporate succession and granting of signature authority with ROW Division;

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confirm that utility accounting systems are acceptable to TxDOT for audit and payment purposes;

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have updated AP 152 on file;

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TxDOT Utility Accommodation Rules (UAR) Compliance

All utility work must be accomplished in accordance with the UAR.

The requirement for ROW Division’s approval of an exception to the UAR does not prevent subsequent District approval of the agreement assembly.

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Lump Sum Agreements

Lump sum agreements can be approved up to $500,000.00 by the District.

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ROW Division Approval

Note that within a particular project, both the District and Division concurrence might be required. In such instances, utility agreement assemblies with special conditions will be essential to ensure that the execution processes and compliance review are coordinated and do not introduce complex conflicts to the project's ultimate clearance.

The following special situations will require ROW Division concurrence of the Utility Agreement Assembly.

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Utility attachments to highway facilities and structures, for example to a bridge. In this case, Bridge Division approval is also required.

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Special utility construction, such as utility bridges, corridors, tunnels, or stacking arrangements.

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Secondary utility adjustments due to TxDOT design changes or oversights.

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Irrigation and drainage canals.

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Third Party Participation - Situations in which a third party will share the cost of the highway facility (i.e., multi-modal, transit and development corporations) and where unique arrangements are required to establish utility cost participation.

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Special design accommodations (i.e., junction boxes to accommodate utilities).

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Lump sum agreements greater than $500,000.