There is a newer version of the North Dakota Century Code
2009 North Dakota Code
24 Highways, Bridges, and Ferries
24-03 Construction and Maintenance of State Highway System
Download pdfconstruction, and maintenance of the state highways and bridges within this state. Such plans
and specifications may be amended, from time to time, as the director deems advisable. 24-03-02. Authority to construct and maintain state highway system. The director has the authority, and is responsible for the construction, maintenance, protection, and control of
the highways which comprise the state highway system. The director shall patrol and keep said
system in good and safe condition for general public use. 24-03-03. Construction program. Repealed by S.L. 1999, ch. 245, § 4. 24-03-04. Force accounts in emergencies. In case of great emergency requiring immediate action, and if delay would cause a public injury, the work may be done by the
department by force account. 24-03-05. Closing of roads - Penalty for passing over road or removing barricade. Whenever, during the construction work on any state highway or at any other time, it may be
necessary to prevent traffic from passing over any portion of such highway, the department may
close such portion of the highway to all traffic by causing to be posted in a conspicuous manner,
at the ends of the portion of the highway so closed, suitable signs warning the public that such
road is closed under authority of law, and by the erection of suitable barricades, fences, or other
obstructions. The driver, or owner, or both, of any vehicle, self-propelling or otherwise, passing
through, over, or around any such barricade, fence, or other obstruction so placed, or any person
opening, removing, or defacing any such barricade, fence, or other obstruction, or any such
warning sign, without written permission from the engineer in charge of the work, or in charge of
such highway, or any person willfully causing any damage to the work under construction, is
guilty of a class A misdemeanor. 24-03-06. Method of construction of highway ditches. All highways constructed or reconstructed by the department, board of county commissioners, board of township supervisors,
their contractors, subcontractors, or agents, or by any individual firm, corporation, or limited
liability company must be so designed as to permit the waters running into the ditches to drain
into coulees, rivers, and lakes according to the surface and terrain where the highway or
highways are constructed in accordance with the stream crossing standards prepared by the
department and the state engineer so as to avoid the waters flowing into and accumulating in the
ditches to overflow adjacent and adjoining lands. In the construction of highways the natural flow
and drainage of surface waters to the extent required to meet the stream crossing standards
prepared by the department and the state engineer may not be obstructed, but the water must be
permitted to follow the natural course according to the surface and terrain of the particular terrain.
The department, county, township, their contractors, subcontractors, or agents, or any individual
firm, corporation, or limited liability company is not liable for any damage caused to any structure
or property by water detained by the highway at the crossing if the highway crossing has been
constructed in accordance with the stream crossing standards prepared by the department and
the state engineer. 24-03-07. Drains across state highways. The director, when notified by the board of drain commissioners of any drainage district that it is necessary to run a drain across any state or
federal-aid highway, shall make the necessary opening through such highway and shall build and
keep in repair suitable culverts or bridges, as provided in title 61. 24-03-08. Determinations of surface water flow and appropriate highway construction. Whenever and wherever a highway under the supervision, control, and jurisdiction of the department or under the supervision, control, and jurisdiction of the board of
county commissioners of any county or the board of township supervisors has been or will be Page No. 1 constructed over a watercourse or draw into which flow surface waters from farmlands, the state
engineer, upon petition of the majority of landowners of the area affected or at the request of the
board of county commissioners, township supervisors, or a water resource board, shall
determine as nearly as practicable the design discharge that the crossing is required to carry to
meet the stream crossing standards prepared by the department and the state engineer. When
the determination has been made by the state engineer, the department, the board of county
commissioners, or the board of township supervisors, as the case may be, upon notification of
the determination, shall install a culvert or bridge of sufficient capacity to permit the water to flow
freely and unimpeded through the culvert or under the bridge. The department, county, and
township are not liable for any damage to any structure or property caused by water detained by
the highway at the crossing if the highway crossing has been constructed in accordance with the
stream crossing standards prepared by the department and the state engineer. 24-03-09. Warning signs of road construction. Whenever the department or any county or township enters into a contract for the construction and improvement of any road or
culvert, or bridge thereon, it, as a condition of such contract, shall provide therein that the
contractor shall place warning signs and devices which are in conformity with chapter 39-13.
When a highway is so marked, the traveler shall proceed only with great care and diligence, but
nothing contained in this section makes any township, county, or the state liable for the failure of
any contractor to erect such warning signs. 24-03-10. Public officers - Warning sign placement duty. Whenever a township, county, or the department shall construct, improve, or repair any road, culvert, or bridge, or shall
gravel any road, and such work renders travel on such road, culvert, or bridge unsafe or
dangerous, the board of supervisors of any such township, the board of county commissioners of
any such county, or the director or any foreman or other person in charge of such work, shall
place such warning signs as provided in section 24-03-09. 24-03-11. Penalty for failure to erect warning signs. Any person in charge of any work or repairs on any public road, culvert, or bridge who fails or neglects to erect and maintain
suitable warning signs as provided in sections 24-03-09 and 24-03-10 is guilty of a class B
misdemeanor. 24-03-12. Authority to acquire equipment. The office of management and budget, acting as a central purchasing agency of the state, has authority to purchase, lease, or acquire all
road material, road machinery, tools, equipment, and supplies necessary for use in constructing,
maintaining, controlling, and administering the state highway system. However, the office of
management and budget may delegate such authority to the director, and in such instances the
director has the authority to purchase, lease, or acquire, as the director deems necessary, all
road material, road machinery, tools, equipment, and supplies necessary for the construction,
maintenance, and control of the state highway system. 24-03-13. Equipment and materials may be purchased without advertising for bids. The office of management and budget or the director, when the authority to purchase is
delegated to the director, may purchase equipment, materials, supplies, or other personal
property useful to the department, from the United States government, or any of its officers,
agents, agencies, or corporations, without compliance with the provisions of section 24-02-17. 24-03-14. Authority to acquire buildings for equipment. The director has authority to construct, rent, or purchase for the state the necessary land and buildings for the storage and
housing of road materials, road machinery, equipment, and tools. 24-03-15. Sale of obsolescent highway equipment. The director is authorized to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of all obsolescent road machinery, equipment, and material no
longer needed, required, or useful for highway purposes. All such obsolescent road machinery,
equipment, and material offered for sale to political subdivisions must be sold by negotiation to
the purchasing political subdivision at the department's established market value. All such obsolescent road machinery, equipment, and material which is offered at general sale and
valued at more than three thousand dollars must be sold by public auction or by sealed bids at Page No. 2 the highest and best bid, reserving the right to reject all bids, with no money deposit required of
any bidder prior to sale. Any funds or money derived from the sale of such property must be
credited to the funds from which such purchase was made originally. 24-03-16. Inspection and testing of materials. The director has the authority to inspect and test all materials, supplies, equipment, and machinery used by the department and
to develop methods and procedures for this purpose. 24-03-17. Testing laboratory. The director has the authority to maintain and develop a testing laboratory to carry out the requirements of section 24-03-16. The department may, upon
request of any division or agency of government, make available the services and facilities of
said testing laboratory, and make a reasonable charge therefor. 24-03-18. Preparation of manuals of methods and procedures. The director shall, to the extent practicable, prepare, print, and distribute manuals of standard and uniform methods
for any of the activities, divisions, or work of the department, or for general road and bridge
construction, design, land acquisition, traffic control, maintenance, marking, and kindred
purposes in this state. 24-03-19. Research on highway development. The director has the authority to gather, investigate, and compile information concerning the use, construction, and maintenance
of highways, the practices and methods of efficient highway organization, financing, and such
other information, data, and statistics of this state or other states as deemed advisable, and the
extent of the natural resources of roadbuilding materials within this state. The director has the
further authority to enter into agreements with other states or research organizations to carry on
research and test projects involving highway development and to expend highway funds for this
purpose. The director shall disseminate all such information, together with any recommendations the director deems advisable. 24-03-20. Traffic surveys. The director has the authority to collect, analyze, and interpret all physical and economic data needed to measure existing and estimated future street
and highway traffic characteristics, such as, origin and destination, volumes, speeds, accidents,
congestion, parking, pedestrian use of streets, and the economic loss caused by inferior traffic
facilities, including the preparation of traffic plans and recommendations. 24-03-21. Preparation of road maps - Publication of tourist information. The commissioner shall prepare for general distribution road maps of the state highway system and
other roads as the commissioner determines necessary. Any tourist-oriented material printed on
road maps must be prepared by the department of commerce division of tourism at no cost to the
department of transportation. 24-03-22. Highway maintenance radio net. The department is hereby authorized to purchase, install, and maintain a department of transportation radio communications network out
of funds now and hereinafter designated as state highway maintenance funds. The department
is further authorized to enter into an agreement with the federal civil defense administration for
the purchase of radio equipment for said radio communications network on a fifty-fifty fund
matching basis. 24-03-23. Encroachments on state highways. No part of the right of way for state highways may be encroached upon by erection thereon of any structure, or placing thereon any
personal property, other than a temporary parking of a motor vehicle, without a written permit
from the director. Any encroachment may be caused to be removed, obliterated, or corrected by
order of the director and the total cost thereof must be paid by the person responsible for the
encroachment. Property other than motor vehicles left upon highway right of way for a period
exceeding seventy-two hours, the ownership of which cannot be determined after reasonable
effort has been made to do so, must be deemed abandoned and may be removed from the right
of way and stored at the nearest site available for thirty days and if it is not claimed by the owner
during such period, and the cost of removal and storage paid, it may be disposed of in the
manner prescribed by the director. Abandoned motor vehicles are subject to the provisions of Page No. 3 sections 39-26-01 through 39-26-11. If such property is disposed of it must, except as otherwise
provided by this section, be sold or disposed of in the manner provided in sections 39-26-05
through 39-26-09. The receipts therefrom must be deposited in the state treasury as provided in
section 1 of article IX of the Constitution of North Dakota and credited to the permanent school
fund. Page No. 4 Document Outline chapter 24-03 construction and maintenance of state highway system
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. North Dakota may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.