REBUILT WOLF CREEK CULVERT BEHAVIOR

THE FAILURE OF AN 18.5-FT DIAMETER STRUCTURAL-PLATE CULVERT UNDER 83 FT OF COVER LED TO ITS RECONSTRUCTION USING THE IMPERFECT TRENCH TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION AS WELL AS OTHER CHANGES. THE CULVERT WAS INSTRUMENTED WITH ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE STRAIN GAGES PLACED ON THE CULVERT WALLS AT APPROXIMATELY MID-HEIGHT. CARLSON SOIL STRESS METERS WERE PLACED ON THE OUTSIDE WALLS OF THE CULVERT AND IN THE FILL. RUBBER PRESSURE CELLS ADAPTED FROM COMMERCIAL HOT WATER BOTTLES WERE PLACED IN THE FILL AND SETTLEMENT CELLS ON EACH SIDE OF THE CULVERT. THE RESULTS CORRELATED WELL AND DEMONSTRATED THAT THE VERTICAL LOAD ON THE CULVERT WAS MUCH LESS THAN THE WEIGHT OF THE OVERLYING COLUMN OF EARTH. THE STRAIN GAGES, WHICH MEASURED BENDING STRAINS IN ADDITION TO CIRCUMFERENTIAL COMPRESSION, SHOWED THAT SIGNIFICANT RESIDUAL BENDING STRESSES WERE INDUCED IN THE PLATES DURING ERECTION. THEY ALSO MONITORED BENDING STRESS CHANGES THAT OCCURRED AT THE STRAIN GAGE SITES DURING AND AFTER THE BACKFILLING OPERATION. THE VIGOROUS COMPACTION OF THE BACKFILL ON EACH SIDE OF THE CULVERT DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF BACKFILLING PRODUCED A BENDING STRESS PATTERN IN THE SIDE WALLS THAT PERSISTED THROUGHOUT THE EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTION PERIOD AND THEREAFTER. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/262/262-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Culverts and Culvert Pipe and presented at the 48th Annual Meeting.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:
  • Sheer, Alfred C
  • Willett Jr, Gerald A
• Discussers:
  • Spangler, M G
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1-13
• Monograph Title: Pipes and culverts
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 262
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Backfilling; Bending; Compaction; Culverts; Deformation curve; Failure; Load cells; Loads; Reconstruction; Residual stress; Ring stress; Soils; Steel plates; Strain gages; Stresses; Structural analysis; Structural mechanics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Structural behavior; Vertical loads
• Old TRIS Terms: Circumferential stressing; Electrical strain gages; Imperfect trench method; Stress distribution (Soils)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204221
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 4 1994 12:00AM