Performance of a Reinforced Concrete Box Culvert Installed in Trapezoidal Trenches
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 1
Abstract
The performance of embankment installation (EI) and trench installation (TI) culverts has been investigated through experimental, numerical, and analytical methods. However, there are few studies on the performance of trapezoidal TI (TTI) culverts. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the complex soil-structure interaction and to provide reference for the design of TTI culverts. First, field tests were conducted to measure the vertical earth pressure on the TTI culvert. Then, numerical simulations were performed to investigate the performance of TTI culverts. With the validation of the numerical model, parametric studies were carried out to investigate the important influencing factors (i.e., the slope angle of the trench, the bottom width of the trench, the culvert dimensions, and the stiffness of backfill adjacent to the culvert) on the culvert performance. This study reveals that the vertical earth pressure on the TTI culvert is significantly different from that on EI and TI culverts. The magnitude of the vertical earth pressure and deformation of the TTI culvert are influenced by the soil arches as long as the backfill is high enough. Generally, it is suggested that soil arch effects should be considered in the design of TTI culverts.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51108434), Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (Grant No. 2010CDB04201), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. CUG130408). The authors express their appreciation for this financial assistance. The authors also thank Professor J. Zhao of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) for his suggestions, which helped improve the quality of this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 1 • January 2014
Pages: 120 - 130
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 10, 2012
Accepted: Mar 22, 2013
Published online: Dec 16, 2013
Published in print: Jan 1, 2014
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