PERFORMANCE OF A LARGE CORRUGATED STEEL CULVERT

Because few published field data exist to help in the development and evaluation of design criteria for large buried structures, a construction project involving such a structure was instrumented in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The structure was a shallow-buried, elliptical, corrugated-steel pipe with a 16-ft (4.9-m) height and a 27-ft (8.2-m) span. A concrete relief slab was placed on the fill several feet (meters) over the crown to distribute the vehicle loads. Pressures around the structure and under the slab were measured by using embedded stress gauges. Horizontal and vertical extensometers measured strains in the backfill. Radial extensometers inside the structure provided the structural deformation pattern. Data was obtained during construction and during live load tests with heavy vehicles. The results provided information on the magnitudes and distribution of stresses and deformations, the influence of construction procedures, and the apparent moduli of the backfill. Even though the cover over the structure provided by the backfill and slab was only about 20 percent of the span, the deflections and stresses in the pipe from the heavy vehicle loads were much smaller than those produced by the dead weight of material placed over the crown. Many cycles of live loading were required before the culvert system began to respond elastically to the loading. The final soil pressure distribution around the structure and the observed deflections were greatly influenced by the construction procedures.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1975/548/548-006.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=PERFORMANCE+OF+A+LARGE+CORRUGATED+STEEL+CULVERT&author=E.+Selig&author=S.+Calabrese&publication_year=1975
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Soil Mechanics Section. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • Selig, Ernest T
  • Calabrese, Salvatore J
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 62-76
• Monograph Title: SOIL AND ROCK MECHANICS, CULVERTS AND COMPACTION
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 548
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Backfilling; Construction management; Corrugated metal culverts; Deflection; Deformation; Deformation curve; Design; Extensometers; Fills; Live loads; Load tests; Mechanical elasticity; Pipe; Pressure; Slabs; Steel pipe; Strain gages; Stresses; Underground structures
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design criteria
• Old TRIS Terms: Backfills
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00129493
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309024536
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 10 1976 12:00AM