Engineering
Jack A. Hurlbert, P.E.
City Engineer
300 Lee Street
Bristol, Virginia 24201-4327
Phone: (276) 645-7363
Fax: (276) 645-7365
Email: jhurlbert@bristolva.org
Office
Hours
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
DIVISION
OVERVIEW
PAGE
CONTENTS
Stormwater Management
- City
maintenance & development Projects
- Private
sector development projects
- Permits
for entrances
- Permits
for work in public rights-of-way
-
Abandonment
(closure) of public rights-of-way
- Street
pavement maintenance
- Traffic
engineering
- Mapping
services and as-built drawings
-
Drainage
analysis & consultation
- Other
engineering services
- Public
Works Projects
- City
maintenance & development projects
The
Engineering Division of the Public Works Department plays a key role in the planning
and operations endeavors of the City of Bristol. The involvement of the Division
spans the gamut from development site plan review and preliminary subdivision
plat oversight to the field operations of construction stake out and project inspection.
The Division is responsible for the planning
and design of minor construction and maintenance projects to be performed by city
Public Works forces as well as the design and project management of larger, more
complex projects that will be constructed by private contractors. The Division
also coordinates and manages projects that are designed by consulting firms retained
by the City.
- Private
sector development projects
In addition to City projects, the Engineering
Division is responsible for the review and approval of site plans for development
for commercial, industrial, institutional and certain residential developments.
The Division performs inspection work on these developments to ensure compliance
with the statutes and regulations of the City and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Virtually every development or expansion of this nature requires that a site plan
be submitted. Downloadable copies of the City's Site Plan Ordinance and Off-Street
Parking and Loading and Unloading Ordinance are available at the Engineering
FTP Site.
Many developments, particularly residential,
involve the subdivision of land, including the dedication of rights-of-way for
the construction of public streets. While the submittal of proposed subdivision
plans falls under the purview of the Department
of Planning and Community Development, the review and approval of the engineering
and construction aspects of the infrastructure for the proposed development
are the responsibility of the Engineering Division. This review helps to ensure
that the plat submitted to the Planning Commission and ultimately to the City
Council conforms to the Subdivision Ordinance of the City of Bristol. For information
regarding the subdivision of land within the City of Bristol, contact the Department
of Planning and Community Development
at (276) 645-7470 or atrivette@bristolva.org
Whenever
a new driveway or entrance is constructed in the City where connection is made
to a public street or right-of-way, a permit is required by the City Code. These
permits are issued at no cost to the property owner, but must be secured prior
to construction in order to permit Engineering Division staff to determine the
site-specific requirements for the permit. Sites for which a site plan has been
approved do not require additional entrance permits if the type(s) and location(s)
of all entrances serving the development are shown on the approved site plan.
All driveway and entrance connections are inspected by Engineering Division personnel
prior to approval for use. A downloadable permit application form may be obtained
at Permit Forms.
Additional information regarding driveway or entrance connections may be obtained
by contacting the Engineering Division at (276) 645-7363
or bvaeng@bristolva.org.
- Permits
for work in public rights-of-way
It
is sometimes necessary for a public or private utility, contractors or members
of the public to perform work within a public right-of-way. The City Code requires
that a permit for this work be issued by the City Engineer and that the applicant
secure a performance and indemnity bond or liability insurance policy for the
proposed work. There is a fee of $35.00 for each permit issued. Each individual
disturbance of the right-of-way, whether in the paved area or not, requires a
separate permit. Details concerning the bond and/or insurance requirements can
be found in Article II, §74-31 et seq. of the City Code, by calling
(276) 645-7363 or by
contacting bvaeng@bristolva.org. A downloadable
permit application form may be obtained at Permit
Forms.
- Abandonment
(closure) of public rights-of-way
The City of Bristol contains literally hundreds
of unimproved street and alley rights-of-way. On many occasions, property owners,
both residential and non-residential, whose premises abut one of these rights-of-way
has a need or desire to petition to have the unimproved street or alley, or a
portion thereof, abandoned, or as it is more commonly called, closed. Less often,
but still occasionally requested, is the abandonment of all or a portion of an
improved right-of-way. The Code of Virginia provides a statutory procedure by
which these public ways must be abandoned. The procedure requires that a petition
be circulated by the applicant to all owners whose property abuts the public way
that is the subject of the petition to abandon, that the request to abandon be
advertised in a newspaper of general circulation within the City, that a public
hearing be conducted on the request and that the City Council adopt an ordinance
effecting the abandonment. For additional information on the abandonment of a
public right-of-way, please contact the Engineering Division
at (276) 645-7363 or
jhurlbert@bristolva.org. A downloadable
file containing instructions and the forms necessary to petition for an abandonment
may be obtained at the Engineering
FTP Site.
- Street
pavement maintenance
Each fiscal year (July
1 - June 30), the City of Bristol compiles a listing of streets and alleys to
be included in the pavement maintenance program for that year. The pavement maintenance
program consists of a combination of cold planing (milling) where warranted and
resurfacing with asphalt concrete plant mix. Both of these functions are advertised
for bid in the sixty day period immediately preceding the beginning of the fiscal
year with bid prices to remain firm for the entire fiscal year. The City receives
maintenance funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia to assist in this program.
A needs assessment based upon a computerized pavement maintenance program is performed
to establish a hierarchy of numeric ratings for inclusion of a street or alley
in a given year's schedule, with streets or alleys having the lowest numeric score
receiving priority. While some flexibility is built into the schedule, the overall
program is constrained by budgetary limitations, preventing wide deviation from
the established schedule. For information concerning current scheduling or subsequent
projections, please contact the Engineering Division at (276)
645-7363 or jhurlbert@bristolva.org
The Engineering Division,
in conjunction with the Traffic Engineer from the Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO) and the Traffic Planner from the Department of Planning and Community Development,
provides traffic engineering services for the City of Bristol. These services
include traffic sign placement determination, pavement marking design, speed studies,
traffic counts, roadway and intersection geometric design, work zone safety plans
and special event traffic movement plans. The Division also is involved in the
needs assessment for traffic signalization, approach design and signal phasing.
The City Engineer and the Traffic Engineer serve on the Transportation Safety
Commission. This Commission is charged with the review of traffic and safety issues
referred by City staff, the City Council or requested by members of the public.
For information or to address a concern relative to traffic or safety matters,
contact the Engineering Division at (276) 645-7363
or jhurlbert@bristolva.org
- Mapping
services and as-built drawings
Extensive
archives of maps, including subdivision plats and replats, site plans, erosion
and sediment control plans, street and highway plans, drainage plans, and the
Real Property Identification Map of the City of Bristol, Virginia (Tax Maps) are
maintained at the Engineering Division office. Additionally, as-built drawings
for a large number of projects and structures are available at the Division office
or at the office of the Building Official which is located in the same building
as the Engineering Division. The Engineering Division has the capability to produce
copies of any drawing or map on file in either hard copy (paper) or digital format.
There is a reproduction charge for all copies. the charge varies for type, size
and quantity of reproductions. For more information contact the Division at (276)
645-7363 or bvaeng@bristolva.org.
- Drainage
analysis & consultation
One of the most common
dilemmas dealt with by the Engineering Division and the greatest generator of
citizen complaints is the problem of stormwater management. While it is relatively
simple to design new projects to handle projected drainage quantities, older,
more developed parts of the City often experience problems that are more difficult
to solve. It should be recognized that runoff and flooding from adjacent private
properties are matters to be resolved between the parties involved or for the
civil courts to deal with. On the other hand, if drainage problems are caused
by or exacerbated by public streets or facilities, they fall under the purview
of the Engineering Division. These problems should be reported by contacting the
City Engineer at (276) 645-7363
or jhurlbert@bristolva.org. In the
majority of cases, the City can provide relief or, if the problem is determined
to be caused by factors other than the City, provide an analysis and consultation
service to the affected party to suggest a remedy that the property owner can
employ to provide a solution.
- Other
engineering services
The following is a
partial list of other services that the Division either provides or can lend assistance
for. Please contact the Division at (276) 645-7363
or jhurlbert@bristolva.org for inquiries
related to the following, or for other questions that deal with subjects not enumerated
but you believe may be the responsibility of the Engineering Division.
- Sidewalk
and Curb/Curb and Gutter Construction or Maintenance
-
Requests for Street
Lighting
- On-Street
Parking Management
- Floodplain
Management
- Street
and Alley Status (Public/Private, Closed/Open)
Advertised
Projects
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REVISED
111430FEB10