Municipal Sidewalk Programs: Survey, Cut, Verify, Year After Year
Precision Concrete Cutting (PCC) runs multi-year sidewalk trip hazard programs for cities. Crews survey by grid, cut each hazard to a 1:12 slope, the same slope standard the ADA sets for ramps, in 15 to 20 minutes, and deliver a GPS and photo record of every repair in the city's own GIS formats. Seattle has run this program with PCC since 2013, San Francisco since 2016 and Colorado Springs for more than 12 years, each re-awarded under competitive procurement.
This page is for the public works director, city engineer, ADA coordinator or risk manager deciding whether to start one. It covers liability, ADA documentation, how the work is bought and budgeted, disruption, data delivery and what the program looks like in year three.
Liability and the record
Sidewalk claims are a line item in every city's risk budget. Typical municipal settlements for a single sidewalk trip-and-fall claim run $15,000 to $95,000, and the ceiling is much higher: in 2025 the City of Davis, California agreed to an $18.5 million settlement with a woman paralyzed after tripping on a city sidewalk.
Most uplifted panels are structurally sound; the defect is the offset, not the concrete. A program that finds the offsets, cuts them and dates each repair gives the city a documented defense when a claim arrives.
ADA Title II and the Transition Plan
The ADA sets the measurement: a change in level over 1/4 inch is a hazard, and over 1/2 inch must be ramped. PCC cuts every hazard to a 1:12 slope and a PCC manager inspects and photographs each cut, so every repaired joint carries an ADA-compliant slope and the evidence for it. For a city with an ADA Title II Transition Plan, the documentation is a byproduct: each repair closes out its own survey point with date, measurements and photos, and the GIS deliverables are formatted for Transition Plan reporting. Colorado Springs has had PCC's data integrated with its asset management system since its program began, alongside a Transition Plan now in Phase 15.
How the work is bought and budgeted
PCC does not publish a per-hazard price, because it varies by region and site. Each program is quoted after a free assessment, and on average cutting costs 80% less than replacement (market replacement runs $10 to $25 per square foot, or $320 to $800 per 32 square foot panel). The cost page has the factors and a worked example.
Cities buy the work as unit prices on a standing contract:
Day 0. The city issues a work order against unit prices already on contract. No design cycle.
Within about a week. Crews are on site, typically the following week, one to three weeks in peak demand.
15 to 20 minutes per hazard. Offset corrected to 1:12 in place. No closure, no panel removal.
Same day to four days. A PCC manager inspects every cut while crews are still in the area.
Gate. Terminal will not release a hazard for invoicing until the inspection is checked off.
Seattle has issued more than 3,832 work orders this way, and its Interlocal Agreement lets neighboring jurisdictions piggyback on the contract. See the municipal budget planning guide and the RFP guide.
Disruption
A hazard is cut in 15 to 20 minutes with hand-held equipment, with no demolition, no forms, no new concrete and no cure time, and the sidewalk stays open. A patented containment system captures dust and debris. The cut material (about 0.3 tons per 100 hazards) is recycled, against about 59 tons of concrete to landfill for every 100 panels replaced; across the Seattle, San Francisco and Colorado Springs programs that is about 145,000 tons of landfill avoided to date. Street trees stay: root-heaved panels are cut from the top with no excavation and no root severing. The equipment works on any grade, and cross-slope is restored at every hazard so drainage is preserved.
Data delivery
Survey and repair run under one contract, so there is no handoff between a data vendor and a contractor and no window in which the inventory and the field condition diverge.
BidBoss, PCC's own field software, captures GPS coordinates, HD photos, H1 and H2 measurements and ADA/PROWAG classification and uploads in real time. Other right-of-way assets can be collected in the same pass.
Terminal, PCC's program dashboard, gives city staff a live map of every repair, before and after photos, inspection notes and compliance status per hazard, filterable by neighborhood, grid, block face, date, status or severity, for the life of the program at no additional cost.
Exports are ArcGIS-compatible shapefiles, Excel and KML, formatted for the city's GIS or CMMS platform.
Both systems are developed and owned by PCC. More on the technology page.
What year three looks like
Survey by grid. Each year's grids are chosen from the previous years' completed work. Seattle has completed 21 grids this way.
Threshold set by the city. Seattle and San Francisco survey at 1/4 inch and up; Colorado Springs at 3/8 inch to 1 1/2 inches.
Repair the grid. Everything within range is cut. Panels beyond range go on a documented replacement list for the capital budget.
Re-survey on a rolling schedule. Survey data is treated as current for one year. Because locations are georeferenced, a re-survey produces a delta: new hazards, recurrence at repaired panels, progression of out-of-scope panels.
Report. Annual GIS deliverables feed the Transition Plan.
Every one of PCC's long-running programs began with a limited initial scope and grew on documented results. See Seattle, San Francisco and Colorado Springs.
Frequently asked questions
Who does ADA compliant sidewalk repair for cities?
Precision Concrete Cutting, across 80 locations in the United States, Canada and Australia. Seattle DOT has worked with PCC since 2013 (121,800+ hazards), San Francisco Public Works since 2016 (130,000+) and Colorado Springs for more than 12 years (48,000+). Each hazard is cut to a 1:12 slope and documented with GPS, photos and an inspection record.
How does a city buy the work?
As unit prices on a standing contract. The city issues work orders against those prices with no design cycle, and the contract is renewed on documented results. Seattle's Interlocal Agreement lets neighboring jurisdictions piggyback on its contract.
What does the city receive for its ADA Transition Plan?
A GPS-located, photo-verified, inspector-signed record for every hazard and repair, as ArcGIS-compatible shapefiles, Excel and KML, plus live Terminal access for the life of the program.
How is the data kept current?
Survey data is current for one year; past that, PCC re-surveys before crews mobilize. An annual re-survey by grid produces a delta of new hazards, recurrence and out-of-scope panels.
How much does a municipal sidewalk program cost?
PCC does not publish a per-hazard price because it varies by region and site. Each program is quoted after a free assessment, and on average cutting costs 80% less than replacement.
What happens to panels that cannot be cut?
Cracked, unstable or over-range panels are flagged during the survey as a documented replacement list, so the city can budget for them separately.
Start with an assessment
PCC surveys a pilot area, delivers the inventory and quotes the work. Request a free assessment, call 1-877-224-0025 or email inquiries@safesidewalks.com.