Tunneling - Permit.
Municipal Code of Chicago § 10-20-203
in effect10-20-203 Tunneling - Permit.
(a) No person shall, without a permit in writing from the Commissioner, place any shaft, cable, pipe, main, conduit, wire or other transmitting or conducting device underneath the surface of any public way in the city by driving the same through the earth underneath the surface of any such public way, or by boring or tunneling under any such public way.
(b) No person shall make an opening in a public way in order to place any underground facility when a utilidor is available.
(c) Any person may tunnel under stone or concrete sidewalks which do not exceed six feet in width for the purpose of installing sewer drains not to exceed six inches in diameter; provided, that a permit in writing shall be obtained from the Commissioner for such purpose.
(d) The Commissioner is authorized to remove, cause the removal or cut out all shafts, cables, pipes, mains, conduits, tubes, wires or other transmitting or conducting devices at any time laid or placed underneath the surface of any public way in violation of the provisions of this section.
(Prior code § 33-6; Amend Coun. J. 5-4-94, p. 49718; Amend Coun. J. 1-14-97, p. 37762, § 17; Amend Coun. J. 12-7-05, p. 64870, § 1.9; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. IX, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-16-24, p. 23004, Part 1, Art. V, § 2)
Source: City of Chicago, Municipal Code of Chicago (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2702184Fetched: 10/24/2026