Live-Load Effect in Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts under Soil Fill
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 11
Abstract
The effects of live load in box culverts may be nearly negligible compared with the effects of dead loads when significant fill is placed above the crown of the culvert. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of live load (truck loads) on reinforced concrete box culverts classified as bridges [spans greater than 6 m (20 ft)] under soil fills of different thicknesses. The study considered the field testing of 10 existing reinforced concrete box culverts with fill depths ranging from 0.76 m (2.5 ft) to 4.1 m (13.5 ft). Instrumentation of the culverts consisted of 12 reusable strain transducers and 12 linear variable displacement transducers. The instrumentation was designed to be applied, used, and removed in one day of testing. Loaded trucks were driven over the culvert to provide live load. The results of the testing show that the live-load effect does diminish with increasing fill depth. The 2012 AASHTO LRFD bridge design specifications are overly conservative in predicting strains and displacements compared with the field data for fill depths less than 2.4 m (8 ft). At fill depths beyond about 1.82 m (6 ft), the live-load pressures are less than 10% of the dead-load pressures, and this fill depth may be considered as a point at which live-load effects may be neglected.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research effort was supported by the Missouri Department of Transportation under project TRyy1314. The opinions, findings, and recommendations expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. This document does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
References
AASHTO. (2002). Standard specifications for highway bridges, 17th Ed., Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2012). LRFD bridge design specifications, 7th Ed., Washington, DC.
Abdel-Karim, A. M., Tadros, M. K., and Benak, J. V. (1990). Live load distribution on concrete box culverts, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Acharya, R. (2012). “Improved load distribution for load rating of low-fill box structures.” Master’s thesis, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Awwad, E. E., Mabsout, M., Sadek, S., and Tarhini, K. (2000). “Finite element analysis of concrete box culverts.” Proc., 8th Int. Conf. Computing in Civil and Building Engineering (ICCBE-VIII), Stanford, CA, 1051–1053.
Bayoglu Flener, E. (2009). “Testing the response of box-type soil-steel structures under static service loads.” J. Bridge Eng., 90–97.
Beben, D. (2013). “Dynamic amplification factors of corrugated steel plate culverts.” Eng. Struct., 46, 193–204.
Bloomquist, D. G., and Gutz, A. J. (2002). “Design live loads on box structures.” Rep. No. BC 354, RPWO # 47-Part 2, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 83.
Gilliand, M. K. (1986). “Cost effective concrete box culvert design.” Master’s thesis, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.
Lawson, W. D., Wood, T. A., Newhouse, C. D., and Jayawickrama, P. W. (2009). “Culvert rating guide.” Rep. No. FHWA/TX-0-5849-P1, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX.
Lawson, W. D., Wood, T. A., Newhouse, C. D., and Jayawickrama, P. W. (2010). “Evaluating existing culverts for load capacity allowing for soil structure interaction.” Rep. No. FHWA/TX-10/0-5849-1, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX.
Petersen, D. L., Li, G., McGrath, T. J., and Nelson, C. R. (2008). “Analysis of live loads on culverts.” Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting Paper #08-2830, Washington, DC, 17.
Petersen, D. L., Nelson, C. R., Li, G., McGrath, T. J., and Nelson, C. R. (2010). “NCHRP Report 647: Recommended design specifications for live load distribution to buried structures.” NCHRP Project 15–29, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
SAP2000. (2009). Linear and nonlinear static and dynamic analysis and design of three dimensional structures, Ver. 14, Computers and Structures, Berkeley, CA.
Tadros, M. K., Benak, J. V., and Gilliland, M. K. (1987). “Soil pressure on box culverts.” ACI Struct. J., 86(4), 439–450.
Yeau K. Y., Sezen H., and Fox P. J. (2009). “Load performance of in situ corrugated steel highway culverts.” J. Perform. Constr. Fac., 32–39.
Yoo, C. H., Parker, F., and Kang J. (2005). “Bedding and fill heights for concrete roadway pipe and box culverts.” Research Rep., Highway Research Center, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 245.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 26, 2013
Accepted: Nov 13, 2014
Published online: Mar 3, 2015
Discussion open until: Aug 3, 2015
Published in print: Nov 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.