STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF A REINFORCED CONCRETE ARCH CULVERT- PHASE II POSEY CANYON

RESULTS ARE PRESENTED OF AN INVESTIGATION ON THE BEHAVIOR OF AN 8 FT REINFORCED CONCRETE ARCH CULVERT BURIED UNDER A 240 FT HIGH FILL. VARIABLES STUDIED WERE: METHOD OF BACKFILL, DIFFERING CULVERT STIFFNESSES, SEVERAL VARIATIONS OF USING STRAW BALES ABOVE THE CULVERT, SOIL PRESSURE AND HEIGHT OF FILL RELATIONSHIPS, AND EFFECTS OF FOOTING SETTLE- MENT AND ROTATIONS. TEST SECTIONS WERE INSTRUMENTED WITH PRESSURE GAGES ATTACHED TO THE OUTSIDE CULVERT WALL AND WITH SOME THAT WERE PLACED AT VARYING HEIGHTS AND DISTANCES AWAY FROM THE CULVERT. OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE DURING THE PLACEMENT OF FILL AND FOR 12 MONTHS THEREAFTER. SOME RESULTS OF THE TEST WERE AS FOLLOWS: (1) SOIL PRESSURES WERE, IN GENERAL, LINEAR FUNCTIONS OF EMBANKMENT HEIGHTS, EXCEPT IN THOSE SECTIONS WHERE THERE WAS A LAYER OF STRAW SURROUNDING THE CULVERT, (2) ALSO, SOME PRONOUNCED DISCONTINUITIES IN LINEAR FUNCTIONS RESULTED WHEN HEAVY RAINS SATURATED THE EMBANKMENT, (3) PLACEMENT OF A LOOSE LAYER OF SOIL OVER THE ARCH REDUCED VERTICAL DENSITIES BUT DID NOT APPEAR TO INFLUENCE LATERAL DENSITIES, (4) A LAYER OF STRAW SURROUNDING THE ARCH BARREL HALVED THE VERTICAL DENSITY AND ALMOST ELIMINATED LATERAL PRESSURES, AND (5) A LAYER OF STRAW SURMOUNTING THE ARCH GREATLY REDUCED VERTICAL EFFECTIVE DENSITY, HAD LITTLE EFFECT ON LATERAL DENSITIES, BUT PRODUCED HIGH DENSITIES ACTING AT ABOUT 45 DEGREES AT MIDHEIGHT OF THE EXTRADOS. A PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS WAS ALSO USED TO ANALYZE THE PRESSURES AND STRESSES IN THE CULVERT. /BPR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Hrp-pr-1(6), D-4-11
• Corporate Authors:

  California Division of Highways

  Bridge Department
  Sacramento, CA  United States  05914

  Bureau of Public Roads /US

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Davis, R E
  • Patterson, L R
• Publication Date: 1968-9

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arches; Backfilling; Culverts; Density; Earth pressure; Embankments; Fills; Finite element method; Footings; Ground settlement; Height; Pressure gages; Reinforced concrete; Rotation; Stiffness; Straw; Structural analysis; Structural mechanics; Test sections
• Uncontrolled Terms: Structural behavior
• Old TRIS Terms: Backfills; Finite elements
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207889
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 18 1994 12:00AM