Sec.13a-175u-1. Definitions

The following terms shall have the following respective meanings:

(a) "AASHTO" means the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 249, Washington, D.C. 20001.

(b) "AENGLC" means as of the date grant percentages are determined in accordance with section 3 of these regulations, the adjusted equalized net grand list per capita of a town prepared as of the immediately preceding January 1 by the State pursuant to Section 10-261 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(c) "Bridge design requirements" means the design requirements for a span established by the "Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges" of AASHTO and, in addition, the following:

(1) minimum life expectancy of 20 years after construction completion;

(2) an HS-20 limit for a newly constructed or rehabilitated span, except that a municipality may approve a lesser load limit for a rehabilitated span so long as such load limit is not less than a 12-ton single unit load limit;

(3) compliance with DOT guidelines for fatigue of existing structural elements;

(4) guide railings of a safe design at the leading ends of a span;

(5) upgrading of existing parapet and traffic railings to AASHTO standards.

(d) "Bridge" means a structure with defined abutments with a distance between the faces of abutments of 6 feet or more, measured along the centerline of the bridge, and whose superstructure is integral with the roadway.

(e) "Coding Guide" means the "Recording and Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nation's Bridges", dated December, 1995, as may be updated from time to time, prepared by the Federal Highway Administration.

(f) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

(g) "Commitment to fund" means a commitment issued to a municipality by the Commissioner to fund the project costs of an eligible bridge project through a project grant, a project loan, or both, in accordance with section 13a-175u-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(h) "Condition rating of substructure" means the numerical rating of from 0 to 9 applicable to the substructure of a bridge determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Coding Guide.

(i) "Condition rating of superstructure" means the numerical rating of from 0 to 9 applicable to the condition of the superstructure of a bridge determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Coding Guide.

(j) "Construction contract" means an agreement between a municipality and a contractor whereby the contractor undertakes to complete the removal, replacement, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of an eligible bridge.

(k) "Culvert" means (a) a box culvert with a distance between the faces of side walls of 6 feet or more whose superstructure is not integral with the roadway, or (b) a concrete or metal arched structure or a metal plate pipe structure with an interior span length of 6 feet or more. A prefabricated metal, concrete or other pipe culvert does not constitute a "culvert".

(l) "Culvert condition rating" means the numerical rating of from 0 to 9 applicable to the condition of a culvert determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Coding Guide.

(m) "Deck condition rating" means the numerical rating of from 0 to 9 applicable to the condition of the deck of a bridge determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Coding Guide.

(n) "Eligible bridge" means:

(1) a bridge which has a condition rating of 4 or less given to any of the following components: superstructure, substructure, or deck condition, or an appraisal rating of 2 or less given to the structure evaluation or waterway adequacy, or

(2) a culvert with a culvert condition rating of 4 or less.

(o) "Eligible bridge project" means the removal, replacement, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of an eligible bridge by one or more municipalities.

(p) "Factor" means the number equal to the following:

(q) "Filing date" means with respect to any fiscal year the filing date set forth in section 13a-175u-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(r) "Fiscal year" means the fiscal year of the State.

(s) "Grant percentage" means the number equal to the following:

(t) "High AENGLC" means the AENGLC of a town which is higher than the AENGLC of any other town.

(u) "Inventory rating in tons" means the numerical rating, denoting the safe sustained load capacity of a structure, determined in accordance with the load factor method described in the manual for condition evaluation of bridges. The live load used in the analysis shall be the MS18 (HS 20) truck or lane loading, whichever controls.

(v) "Local bridge revolving fund" means the local bridge revolving fund created under section 13a-175r of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(w) "Low AENGLC" means the AENGLC of a town which is lower than the AENGLC of any other town.

(x) "Managing municipality" means the municipality designated by those municipalities filing joint preliminary and supplemental applications pursuant to section 13a-175u-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies to act as the municipalities' liaison with the Department of Transportation and to coordinate the efforts of such municipalities in undertaking and completing an eligible bridge project.

(y) "Manual for condition evaluation of bridges" means the most recent edition of the "manual for condition evaluation of bridges, 1994", dated September 1996, prepared by the AASHTO subcommittee on bridges and structures, and published by AASHTO.

(z) "Municipality" means any town, city, borough, consolidated town and city, consolidated town and borough, district or other political subdivision of the State, owning or having responsibility for the maintenance of all or a portion of an eligible bridge.

(aa) "Municipal AENGLC" means the AENGLC of a municipality, but if no AENGLC is determined for the municipality, then it is the AENGLC of the town in which the municipality is located.

(bb) "Municipal official" means the chief elected official, town manager, city manager, or other official of a municipality duly authorized to act on behalf of such municipality in connection with the local bridge program.

(cc) "Physical condition" means the physical condition of a span based on its structural deficiencies, sufficiency rating and load capacity all as determined by the Commissioner.

(dd) "Preliminary application" means an application prepared in accordance with subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 13a-175u-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(ee) "Priority list of eligible bridge projects" means the priority list determined in accordance with Section 13a-175u-2 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(ff) "Professional engineer" means a professional engineer licensed by the State of Connecticut pursuant to chapter 391 of the General Statutes.

(gg) "Priority rating" as determined by the Commissioner means:

(1) with respect to a bridge, the number equal to the following:

"SR" means sufficiency rating

"DC" means deck condition rating

"SUB" means condition rating of substructure

"SUP" means condition rating of superstructure

"IR" means inventory rating in tons

(2) with respect to a culvert, the number equal to the following:

"SR" means sufficiency rating

"CUL" means culvert condition rating

"IR" means inventory rating in tons

(hh) "Project costs" means the costs of an eligible bridge project determined by the Commissioner to be necessary and reasonable.

(ii) "Project grant" means a grant-in-aid made to a municipality pursuant to Section 13a-175s of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(jj) "Project grant agreement" means a grant agreement between the State and a municipality with respect to a project grant.

(kk) "Project loan" means a loan made to a municipality from the local bridge revolving fund and evidenced by the municipality's project loan obligation.

(ll) "Project loan agreement" means a loan agreement with respect to a project loan as provided for in subsection (c) of section 13a-175s of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(mm) "Project loan obligation" means an obligation of a municipality issued to evidence indebtedness under a project loan agreement and payable to the State for the benefit of the local bridge revolving fund.

(nn) "Public emergency" means a situation in which the physical condition of a bridge requires it to be closed or its load limit to be reduced substantially resulting in the isolation of, or a significant delay in the availability of emergency vehicle service to, people to such an extent that the safety of such people is jeopardized.

(oo) "Rehabilitation" means the improvement of an existing span in such manner as to preserve the existence of all or any portion of such span.

(pp) "Span" means a bridge or culvert.

(qq) "Structure evaluation" means the overall rating of the structure which takes into account all major structural deficiencies, and evaluates a bridge in relation to the level of service it provides, as compared with a new bridge built to current standards.

(rr) "Sufficiency rating" means the sufficiency rating of a span determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Coding Guide.

(ss) "Supplemental application" means the application described in subsection (e) of section 13a-175u-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(tt) "Waterway adequacy" means the appraisal of the adequacy of the waterway opening with respect to the passage of flow through the bridge.

(Effective October 24, 1984; Amended October 7, 1999)