Sec. 26.20.19.03. Design and Construction of Primary Roads

A. Primary roads shall be designed and constructed or reconstructed in compliance with the standards of this regulation in order to control subsequent erosion and disturbance of the hydrologic balance.

B. Vertical Alignment. Maximum road grades shall be as follows:

(1) The overall grade may not exceed 10:1 (10 percent);

(2) The maximum grade may not exceed 6.5:1 (15 percent);

(3) There may not be more than 300 feet of grade exceeding 10 percent within any consecutive 1,000 feet of a road but there may not be any grade over 15 percent.

C. Road Cuts. Cut slopes may not be steeper than 1.5:1 in unconsolidated materials or 0.25:1 in rock, except that steeper slopes may be authorized by the Bureau.

D. Road Embankments.

(1) Embankment sections shall be constructed in accordance with the provisions of this section:

(2) All vegetative material and topsoil shall be removed from the embankment foundation during construction to increase stability, and vegetative material or topsoil may not be placed beneath or in any road embankment.

(3) Each layer of the embankment shall be leveled and compacted before the succeeding layer is placed. Loads of material shall be leveled as placed and kept smooth. The successive layers shall be compacted evenly by routing the hauling and leveling equipment over the entire width of the embankment. This procedure shall be continued until no visible horizontal movement of the embankment material is apparent.

(4) Embankment slopes may not be steeper than 2:1, except that where the embankment material is a minimum of 85 percent rock, slopes may not be steeper than 1.5:1.

(5) The road surface shall be sloped toward the ditch line, at a minimum rate of 1/2 inch per foot of surface width, or crowned at a minimum rate of 1/2 inch per foot of surface width as measured from the centerline of the road.

(6) All material used in embankments shall be reasonably free of organic material, coal or coal blossom, frozen materials, wet or peat material, natural soils containing organic matter, or any other material considered unsuitable by the Bureau.

(7) Excess or unsuitable material from excavations, and acid- forming and toxic-forming material shall be disposed of as required by the Bureau.

(8) Acid-producing materials shall be permitted for constructing embankments for only those roads constructed or reconstructed on coal processing waste banks, and only if it has been demonstrated to the Bureau that no additional acid will leave the confines of the coal processing waste bank. Acid-bearing refuse material may not be used outside the confines of the coal processing waste bank.

(9) Each primary road embankment shall have a minimum static safety factor of 1.3.

(10) Each road embankment shall be constructed of fill material that contains sufficient moisture content to achieve proper compaction.

(11) A primary road embankment that is designed and constructed to meet the criteria of this section with an embankment slope not steeper than 2:1 and a foundation slope equal to or less than 25 percent shall be considered to meet the minimum static safety factor under §D(9) of this regulation.

E. Topsoil Removal. Before initiation of construction or reconstruction of a road, topsoil shall be removed from the design roadbed, shoulders, and surfaces where associated structures will be placed and handled in accordance with COMAR 26.20.25.02.