STRUCTURE BEHAVIOR OF A REINFORCED CONCRETE ARCH CULVERT

RESULTS ARE REPORTED OF EXPERIMENTS ON A FULL SCALE REINFORCED ARCH CULVERT OF TEN-FOOT SPAN UNDER A FILL OF 200 FEET. COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL STUDIES WERE UNDERTAKEN TO FIND THE CAUSES OF OBSERVED STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR IN WHICH SEVERE DISTRESS WAS OBSERVED. THE PROTOTYPE TEST STRUCTURE WAS EXTENSIVELY INSTRUMENTED TO MEASURE EMBANKMENT PRESSURES ACTING UPON THE SIDES AND CROWN OF THE ARCH AS WELL AS THOSE DEVELOPED UNDER THE FOOTINGS, INTERNAL BENDING STRAINS IN THE REINFORCING STEEL, STRAINS AND INTERNAL FORCES IN THE CONCRETE, PRESSURES DEVELOPED IN THE EMBANKMENT AT SEVERAL LEVELS AND POSITIONS RELATIVE TO THE CULVERT, AND THE DISTORTIONS AND RIGID BOND DISPLACEMENTS OF THE BARREL. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH WERE ' /1/ TO DEVELOP ACCURATE METHODS FOR PREDICTION OF THE EARTH PRESSURES ACTING UPON SUCH RIGID CULVERTS UNDER HIGH FILLS, AND TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF USE OF METHOD B BACKFILL, CONSISTING OF LAYERS OF ORGANIC MATERIAL OF LOW MODULUS PLACED ABOVE THE CROWN, UPON THESE PRESSURES, AND /2/ TO DETERMINE WHAT CONSIDERATIONS MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURAL REPONSE OF THE ARCH TO THESE PRESSURES. THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA INDICATES THAT, AFTER INITIAL STAGES OF FILL ARE COMPLETED, THERE IS A LINEAR INCREASE OF SOIL PRESSURE AT ANY SPECIFIC LOCATION WITH THE INCREASE OF FILL HEIGHT. THE ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURAL REPONSE OF THE ARCH WAS CARRIED OUT BY A COMPUTER PROGRAM BASED ON ELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE ARCH BUT CAPABLE OF CORRECTING THE EFFECTIVE STIFFNESS OF SUCH ELEMENTS AS WERE STRESSED INTO THE CRACKING RANGE. THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS WERE REACHED' /1/ PRESENT ASSUMPTIONS USED IN CULVERT DESIGN LEAD TO INADEQUATE INTENSITIES IN SOIL PRESSURES, /2/ BACKFILL METHOD B ACHIEVES ITS PURPOSE OF REDUCING VERTICAL FORCES ON THE CROWN, BUT IS HIGHLY DETRIMENTAL TO THE STRUCTURAL REPONSE DUE TO LACK OF PASSIVE SUPPORT AT THIS POINT AND A HIGHLY UNFAVORABLY DISTRIBUTION OF LOAD, /3/ COMPARATIVELY SMALL DIFFERENTIAL DISPLACEMENT AND ROTATIONS OF THE FOOTINGS CAN CAUSE EXTREME STRESSES IN THE ARCH, AND /4/ CUTTING OFF ALTERNATE BARS IN THE ARCH BARREL CAUSES ABRUPT CHANGES IN STIFFNESS AND PROMOTES FORMATION OF CRACKING AND HINGE FORMATION.

• Corporate Authors:

  California Division of Highways

  Bridge Department
  Sacramento, CA  United States  05914
• Authors:
  • Davis, R E
• Publication Date: 1966-9

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arches; Backfilling; Bending; Bending stress; Computers; Culverts; Design; Earth pressure; Elasticity (Mechanics); Embankments; Footings; Height; Instruments for measuring loads or pressure; Measurement; Methodology; Pressure; Reinforced concrete culverts; Reinforcing steel; Stiffness; Stresses; Structural analysis; Structural mechanics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Structural behavior
• Old TRIS Terms: Backfills; Pressure measurement
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207836
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Report/Paper Numbers: Hpr-1/2/-d-4-11
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 30 1994 12:00AM