Maine Code § 23-562

Definitions
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As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the
following meanings. [PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
1. Average annual daily traffic. "Average annual daily traffic" or "AADT" means the average
annual daily traffic as determined by the department using accepted engineering practices.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
2. Bridge. "Bridge" means a structure, including supports, designed principally to carry motor
vehicles that is erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, a highway or a railway, and
has an opening measured along the center of the roadway of more than 20 feet between the
undercropping of abutments or spring lines of arches or the extreme ends of openings for multiple
boxes. It also includes multiple pipes when the clear distance between openings is less than 1/2 of the
smaller contiguous opening. Issues arising regarding the definition of "bridge" must be resolved in
accordance with the method specified in a publication entitled "Recording and Coding Guide for the
Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nation's Bridges" published by FHWA, or any subsequent
replacement publication by FHWA. "Bridge" is defined in accordance with the FHWA definition.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
3. Capital improvement. "Capital improvement" means the creation of, addition to or restoration
of structural or functional capacity of a structure. "Capital improvement" includes construction of new
structures, replacement of existing structures, removal of closed structures and rehabilitation of existing
structures. Rehabilitation differs from maintenance in that it makes comprehensive structural or
functional improvements that impact serviceability for at least 20 years, whereas similar maintenance
is restricted to repairs to individual members of a structure or isolated areas of a structure. "Capital

improvement" includes the cost of property acquisition, permitting, design, construction, traffic control,
supervision and administration and all related costs.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
4. Capital responsibility. "Capital responsibility" means the responsibility to provide all
resources needed to make capital improvement to a structure.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
5. Culvert. "Culvert" means any pipe or other structure that has a span of less than 10 feet or
multiple pipes or other structures with a combined opening of less than 80 square feet in area.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
6. Detour length. "Detour length" means the shortest distance measured along a public way from
one abutment of a bridge to the other abutment that would result if the bridge were closed.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
7. Federal Highway Administration. "Federal Highway Administration" or "FHWA" means an
agency of the United States Department of Transportation.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
8. Low use bridge. "Low use bridge" means a bridge with an AADT of under 100 motor vehicles.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
9. Maintenance. "Maintenance" means the work necessary to preserve a structure's existing
structural or functional capacity and integrity and to abate deterioration of its components.
Maintenance is not intended to increase or fully restore structural or functional capacity. Maintenance
is performed to ensure safety of a user of the structure or the structure in response to vehicular accident
damage, flood damage or ice damage or unanticipated component failure. Maintenance normally is
scheduled for routine operations or to address limited deficiencies found in periodic inspections.
[RR 2001, c. 1, §28 (COR).]
10. Maintenance responsibility. "Maintenance responsibility" means the responsibility to
provide all resources needed to perform maintenance on a structure. "Maintenance responsibility" does
not include snow and ice control.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
11. Minor span. "Minor span" means a structure designed principally to carry motor vehicles that
is larger than a culvert but has a span less than that required to be defined as a bridge.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
12. Municipality. "Municipality" means any unit of municipal government, including towns,
cities, plantations and unorganized townships. "Municipality" includes departments or bureaus of State
Government and quasi-independent agencies or boards of State Government that are responsible for
structures on public highways, excepting the Maine Turnpike Authority. In cases of unorganized
townships, "municipality" means county.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
13. Property valuation. "Property valuation" means the value of all taxable property in a
municipality based upon 100% of the current market value as determined by the State Tax Assessor.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
14. Redundant bridge. "Redundant bridge" means a bridge in which the AADT multiplied by
the detour length in miles is less than 200.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]
15. Structure. "Structure" means a bridge or minor span.
[PL 2001, c. 314, §2 (NEW); PL 2001, c. 314, §4 (AFF).]

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