The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) AREMA--American Railroad Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association.
  (2) ANSI--American National Standards Institute.
  (3) Backfill--Replacement of soil around and over an underground utility facility.
  (4) BNG--Below natural grade.
  (5) Boring--Piercing a hole under the surface of the ground without disturbing the earth surrounding the hole.
  (6) Carrier--Pipe directly enclosing a transmitted liquid or gas.
  (7) Casing--A pipe enclosing a carrier.
  (8) Coating--Material applied to or wrapped around a pipe.
  (9) Communication line--Fiber optic, telephone cable, and similar lines, not exceeding 400 volts to ground or 750 volts between any two points of the circuit, the transmittal power of which does not exceed 150 watts.
  (10) Conduit or duct--An enclosed tubular runway for protecting wires or cables.
  (11) Cover--The depth of material placed over a utility, measured from top of utility casing or carrier pipe to the natural ground line or construction line above the utility.
  (12) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
  (13) District engineer--The chief administrative officer in charge of a district, or his or her designee.
  (14) Electric supply--Electric light, power supply, and trolley lines, regardless of voltage used for transmitting a supply of electrical energy.
  (15) Encasement--Structural element surrounding a pipe or cable.
  (16) Flexible casing pipe--A plastic, fiberglass, or metallic pipe, including copper or aluminum pipe, having a large ratio of diameter to wall thickness that can be deformed without undue stress.
  (17) Grounded--Connected to the earth or to some extended conducting body that intentionally or accidentally is connected with the earth.
  (18) Grout--A cement mortar or slurry of fine sand or clay as conditions govern.
  (19) Jack-and-bore--The installation method whereby the leading edge of the jacked pipe is well ahead of the cutting face of the auger bit and the auger removes waste from inside the pipe as it is being jacked.
  (20) Jacking--The installation of small pipes by the use of hydraulic jacks or rams to push the pipe under the traveled surface of a road, railroad roadbed, or other facility.
  (21) Joint use agreement--A use and occupancy agreement that describes the obligations, responsibilities, rights, and privileges vested in the department and retained by the utility, and used for situations in which the utility has a compensable interest in the land occupied by its facilities and the land is to be jointly occupied and used for railroad and utility purposes.
  (22) Manhole--An opening to an underground utility system that workers or others may enter for the purpose of maintaining, inspecting, or making installations.
  (23) Pipe--A tubular product made as a production item for sale, except for cylinders formed from plate in the course of fabrication of auxiliary equipment.
  (24) Pressure--Relative internal pressure in PSI (pounds per square inch) gauge.
  (25) Right of way--A general term denoting land or a property interest in the land, usually in a strip, used for railroad transportation purposes.
  (26) Seal--A material placed between the carrier pipe and casing to prevent the intrusion of water, where ends of casing are below the ground surface.
  (27) Shoulder--That portion of the roadbed outside the ballast.
  (28) Trenching--Installing in a narrow excavation.
  (29) Tunneling--Excavating the earth ahead of a large diameter pipe by one or more of the following processes.
    (A) The earth ahead of the pipe is excavated using hand tools while the pipe is pushed through the holes by means of jacks, rams, or other mechanical devices.
    (B) The excavation is carried on simultaneously with the installation of tunnel liner plates.
    (C) The tunnel liner plates are installed immediately behind the excavation as it progresses and are assembled completely away from the inside.
  (30) Use and occupancy agreement--The written document, whether in the form of an agreement, acknowledgment, notice, or request, by which the department approves the use and occupancy of railroad right of way by utility facilities.
  (31) Utility--All publicly or cooperatively owned lines, facilities, and systems for producing, transmitting, or distributing communications, power, electricity, light, heat, gas, oil, crude products, water, steam, waste, storm water, and other similar commodities that serve the public.

Source Note: The provisions of this §21.902 adopted to be effective April 20, 2006, 31 TexReg 3273; amended to be effective December 11, 2008, 33 TexReg 10064