RIGID PIPE DISTRESS IN HIGH EMBANKMENTS OVER SOFT SOIL STRATA

Two case histories of severe distress in actual rigid pipe installations are presented. They illustrate how soft soils in the region below the outer haunch or adjacent to the pipe within one diameter beyond the sides of the pipe resulted in significant increases in the load on the pipe and the shear and bending stress resultants, producing extensive flexural cracking and failures in diagonal and radial tension. For each installation, the pipe design and installation designs are presented along with a description of the failure. The results of soil-structure interaction analyses using the computer program SPIDA are presented on the basis of two models, one modeling the soft soils that existed at each side and the other modeling the same installation with the soft soils replaced by compact in situ or placed granular soils. The results show how the presence of soft soils under high fills increases the earth load and structural effects on the pipe compared with pipe in conventional installations. The results also show that the pipes in each of the two installations were not properly designed for the 18- to 20-m (60- to 65-ft) finished heights of fill over the pipe, even without the presence of the soft soils.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1994/1431/1431-007.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=RIGID+PIPE+DISTRESS+IN+HIGH+EMBANKMENTS+OVER+SOFT+SOIL+STRATA&author=F.+Heger&author=E.+Selig&publication_year=1994
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1431, Culvert Distress and Failure Case Histories and Trenchless Technology. 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
• Authors:
  • Heger, Frank J
  • Selig, Ernest T
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 46-52
• Monograph Title: Culvert distress and failure case history and trenchless technology
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1431
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bending; Bending stress; Case studies; Computer programs; Concrete pipe; Design; Distress; Embankments; Failure analysis; Fills; Fracture mechanics; Height; Loads; Pipe; Pipe culverts; Rigid structures; Shear stress; Simulation; Soft soils; Soil structure interaction; Stresses
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fill (Embankment); Rigid pipes
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Geotechnology; Highways; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00666219
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309055091
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 15 1994 12:00AM