CORROSION EVALUATION OF ALUMINUM CULVERT BASED ON FIELD PERFORMANCE

NEARLY 1000 UNCOATED ALUMINUM CULVERTS WERE INSPECTED TO DEVELOP A BROAD BASE FOR ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE. FROM THIS GROUP 583 WERE EXAMINED IN DETAIL, WITH WATER, SOIL, AND METAL SAMPLED FOR LABORATORY EXAMINATION. THE SERVICE HISTORY OF ALL CULVERTS INSPECTED AVERAGED 4.7 YEARS. APPROXIMATELY 20 PERCENT OF THOSE SAMPLED HAD BEEN IN SERVICE FOR 6 YEARS OR MORE. THE RESULTS ARE COMPARED WITH CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF ALUMINUM IN OTHER ENVIRONMENTS. ONLY IN A FEW UNUSUAL EXPOSURES WAS SIGNIFICANT ATTACK NOTED, AND THESE CASES WERE PREDICTABLE FROM PUBLISHED PARAMETERS. FROM THIS IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT ALUMINUM CULVERT BEHAVIOR CLOSELY FOLLOWS THAT EXPECTED IN NORMAL AQUEOUS AND ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENTS. GRAPHIC COMPARISONS ARE MADE WITH WATER PH AND RESISTIVITY, AS WELL AS WITH SOIL PH AND MINIMUM RESISTIVITY. THESE COMPARISONS CONFIRM EARLIER PH RECOMMENDATIONS LIMITING USE OF UNCOATED ALUMINUM ALLOY CULVERT TO SOILS AND WATERS WITHIN A PH RANGE OF 4 TO 9, BUT SUGGEST A MINIMUM SOIL RESISTIVITY OF NO LESS THAN 500 OHM-CM. THIS RESISTIVITY VALUE IS LOWER THAN THAT RECOMMENDED IN AN EARLIER INVESTIGATION BASED ON THE MINIMUM VALUE OF SEVERAL FIELD MEASUREMENTS MADE WITH A VIBROGROUND. THE PRESENT CURRENT RECOMMENDATION IS BASED ON LABORATORY MEASUREMENT OF MINIMUM SOIL RESISTIVITY. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RESISTIVITY LIMIT OCCUR IN GRANULAR SOILS CONTAMINATED WITH SUCH LOW RESISTIVITY MEDIA AS SEA WATER (30 OHM-CM). IN SUCH AREAS, ALUMINUM PERFORMS SATISFACTORILY. TWO EXPOSURE CONDITIONS DO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT CORROSION OF UNCOATED ALUMINUM ALLOY CULVERTfound (1) RUNOFF CONTAINING SULFURIC ACID AT PH LESS THAN 4, AND (2) LOW MINIMUM RESISTIVITY CLAY MUCKS. THE INCONSEQUENTIAL DEGREE OF ATTACK REPRESENTED BY THE LARGE MAJORITY OF CULVERTS NOW IN PLACE ALLOWS ONE TO CONSERVATIVELY EXTRAPOLATE TO A 50-YEAR SERVICE LIFE. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/262/262-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Metals in Highway Structures and presented at the 48th Anual 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:
  • Lowe, T A
  • Vaterlaus, R H
  • Lindberg, R I
  • Lawrence, L R
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 56-68
• Monograph Title: Pipes and culverts
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 262
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aluminum; Aluminum alloys; Corrosion; Culverts; Electrical resistivity; Environmental impacts; Granular soils; Performance; pH value; Runoff; Seawater; Service life; Soils; Sulfuric acid
• Uncontrolled Terms: Field performance
• Old TRIS Terms: Resistivity
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Environment; Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00216838
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 4 1994 12:00AM