1. General: The Contractor will perform all staking work under the supervision of a qualified surveyor or engineer who is experienced and competent in road and bridge construction surveying and staking. The surveyor or engineer will be available to review work, resolve problems, and make decisions in a timely manner. A crew chief, competent to perform all required surveying duties, will supervise the staking in the absence of the surveyor or engineer from the project. The Contractor will submit the qualifications and work experience history of the surveyor or engineer who will supervise the construction survey work to the Engineer for review at least 14 calendar days prior to beginning the staking work. The Contractor will also submit the proposed starting date of the staking and the anticipated surveying work schedule. The Contractor will furnish, set, and properly reference all stakes, references, lines, grades, and batter boards required. Minimum reference notations will be for type, location, and alignment (when there are multiple alignments in the same area). The Contractor will perform the survey and staking work in a manner consistent with standard engineering practices and approved by the Engineer. The Contractor is solely responsible for the accuracy of the survey and staking work. The Contractor will notify the Engineer of any errors and discrepancies found in previous surveys, plans, specifications, or special provisions prior to proceeding with the survey work. The Contractor will be responsible for the supervision of the construction staking personnel. The Contractor will correct any deficient survey or staking work that results in construction errors at no additional cost to the Department. The Contractor will keep field notes in conventional handwritten notebooks or in a computerized form acceptable to the Engineer in a clear, orderly, and neat manner. The notebooks will become the property of the Department upon completion of the project. The notebooks will provide enough information such that quantity measurements are verifiable by the Department. Field notes are subject to inspection by the Engineer at any time. The Contractor is required to submit any remaining required quantity calculations and notes to the Engineer no later than 60 calendar days after completion of the survey and staking work. The Department will set reference control points. The Contractor is responsible for the preservation of ties and references to all control points necessary for the accurate re-establishment of all base lines and centerlines shown in the plans, whether established by the Contractor or found on or adjacent to the project. The Department will also establish benchmark elevations. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to verify the accuracy of the benchmark elevations prior to use on the project. The Contractor will furnish stakes and wooden hubs or steel pins of sufficient length to provide a solid set in the ground. The Contractor will place half-length lath stakes or stake chasers or an alternate, acceptable to the Engineer, adjacent to or on the blue top hubs for guards. Stakes set not meeting these requirements will be reset at the Contractors expense. The Contractor will replace stakes damaged, destroyed, or made unusable at no additional expense to the Department. The Engineer may check the accuracy and control of the Contractor's survey and staking work at any time. The checks performed by the Engineer will not relieve the Contractor of the responsibility for the accuracy of the survey layout or the construction work. If the random checks show the grade is out of tolerance, the Engineer may require the Contractor to set additional stakes, and grade stakes, at the discretion of the Engineer, at no additional cost to the Department. If the Engineer orders additional stakes, the Contractor will perform the additional staking until the Contractor can show the staking operations achieve the specified grade tolerances. Prior to any project staking, the Contractor will run a level circuit to check the plan benchmarks the full length of the project. At structure sites, the circuit will include two benchmarks, one on each end of the structure. 2. Slope Staking: The Contractor will set slope stakes at the catch points. The slope stake reference hubs will be offset behind the slope stake. The Contractor will place slope stake reference hubs behind the slope stakes at a set distance, at the right-of-way line, or at the easement line, as approved by the Engineer. The slope stakes will be set at 100-foot intervals on tangents and at 50-foot intervals in horizontal curves. The horizontal tolerance is 0.2 foot and the vertical tolerance is 0.1 foot. The Contractor will reference the subgrade shoulders with slope stake reference hubs set with a horizontal tolerance of 0.2 foot and a vertical tolerance of 0.05 foot. The Contractor will retain the slope stakes and hub references until the final cross sections are completed and accepted by the Department. The Department will not provide slope stake notes. The Contractor is responsible to generate the slope staking notes using the cross sections and the existing field conditions. 3. Grade Staking: The Contractor will set grade finishing stakes (blue tops) for grade elevations and horizontal alignment on the roadway centerline and at each shoulder at the top of the subgrade. Where additional lanes or turnouts are to be constructed, the Contractor will set blue tops at centerline, the normal shoulder distance, and the extended shoulder distance or outside the additional lane edge. The transverse distance between blue tops will not exceed 20 feet. The Contractor will be required to set intermediate blue tops when the transverse distance is greater than 20 feet. When intermediate blue tops are required, the Contractor will set the intermediate blue tops at locations approved by the Engineer. The blue top grade stakes will be set at 100-foot intervals on tangents and 50- foot intervals on horizontal curves. The horizontal tolerance for blue tops is ±0.2 foot and the vertical tolerance is ±0.02 foot. The Contractor will retain the shoulder blue tops and guards through placement of the granular material. The Contractor will not be required to set grade stakes at the top of the base course. If the Contractor deems it necessary to place grade stakes to achieve typical section as per section 260.3 A of the specifications, the staking will be incidental to the contract unit price for base course. The Department will not provide grade staking (blue top) notes. The Contractor is responsible to generate the slope staking notes using the typical sections and the existing field conditions.
