§ 24-1-118 — Construction and maintenance to be performed at expense of state; geologic formations

(a) Excepting as such work may be performed through mutual
agreement with other entities, either public or private, the
construction and maintenance of all state highways, including
all bridges, and culverts thereon, shall be performed at the
expense of the state and by and under the supervision of the
commission and the director of the department of transportation
or his authorized representative.
(b) When a new permanent highway cut is made that exposes
a bedrock geological formation:
(i) It shall be the policy of the state to leave the
bedrock geological formation exposed and not to cover it with
soil and planted vegetation except when:
(A) There are safety requirements that require
another treatment;
(B) The exposure occurs on private, tribal or
federal land that will be private, tribal or federal land once
the construction is completed and the landowner desires a
different reclamation; or
(C) There are cost of construction or
operational reasons to remove or cover the exposed formation.
(ii) After completion of highway construction, for
any exposed bedrock geological formation site within the highway
right-of-way, with exceptions for site specific safety needs, an
individual wishing to understand the local geology for economic,
educational or private curiosity reasons may examine the cut and
the exposed formation and may remove any geologic samples as may
be gathered by hand or collected using geological hammers or
other hand held tools;
(iii) The department of transportation shall work
with the state geologist to address and resolve any grievances
raised under this subsection;
(iv) For exposed bedrock geologic formations of
interest to the public, the department of transportation may
install appropriate signage, in compliance with applicable
federal and state law, to identify the geological formation and
may consult with the state geologist on the appropriateness of
the signage.