Backfill Corrosivity around Corrugated Steel Plate Culverts
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29, Issue 6
Abstract
Corrugated steel plate (CSP) culverts are exposed to the risk of soil corrosion because of the location in the soil environment. This paper characterizes the most important factors contributing to corrosion in the soil: resistivity, pH, and moisture content. Tests of soil resistivity based on the geophysical electrical resistivity measurements (Wenner array) are presented. This method allows for soil resistivity measurements at various depths. The conducted experimental tests concerned the six galvanized CSP culverts situated on different types of roads (national, provincial, and local). All tests were conducted in two seasons: summer and spring. The minimum resistivity of the soil in the vicinity of the CSP culverts amounted to and was established near roadway. The pH of the backfill in the tested culverts showed alkaline reaction (8.1–9.3). The largest natural soil moisture of approximately 10% was obtained during the spring. The obtained results indicate the peril of the soil corrosion occurrence in the CSP culverts, especially located on the national and provincial roads. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was applied to the statistical analysis. A strong correlation between the backfill resistivity and the pH value in summer and spring, and between the resistivity and moisture content in spring, was recorded. Analysis of durability based on the three standards [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS), and Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC)] shows that the tested culverts meet the requirement for a minimum service life of 40 years (as for culverts), but do not fulfill the required lifetime as for bridges, which is 100 years.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The funding for this research project was provided by the Opole University of Technology, which is gratefully acknowledged.
References
AASHTO. (2013). Standard specification for transportation materials and methods of sampling and testing. Part 1, Washington, DC.
Abdel-Sayed, G., Bakht, B., and Jaeger, L. G. (1994). Soil-steel bridges: Design and construction, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Abu-Hassanein, Z. S., Benson, C. H., and Boltz, L. R. (1996). “Electrical resistivity of compacted clays.” J. Geotech. Eng., 397–406.
Akhoondan, M., and Sagüés, A. A. (2013). “Unexpected corrosion of aluminized steel pipes in limestone backfill.” Proc., Int. Conf. and Expo on Corrosion National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), Houston, TX, 1–15.
American Galvanizers Association (AGA). (2009). The service life of galvanized steel articles in soil applications, Centennial, CO.
American Water Works Association (AWWA). (2004). Steel pipe—A guide for design and installation, 4th Ed., Denver, CO.
Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS). (1998). Buried corrugated metal structures, AS/NZS 2041, Sydney, Australia.
Beben, D. (2013). “Field performance of corrugated steel plate road culvert under normal live load conditions.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 807–817.
Bernstein, S., and Bernstein, R. (1999). Schaum’s outline of elements of statistics. I: Descriptive statistics and probability, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Brady, N. C., and Weil, R. R. (2008). The nature and properties of soils, 14th Ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Caltrans. (2003). Method for estimating the service life of steel culverts (California Test 643), State of California, Dept. of Transportation, Sacramento, CA.
Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC). (2006). CAN/CSA-S6-06, Canadian Standards Association International, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
Corrugated Steel Plate Institute (CSPI). (2007). Handbook of steel drainage and highway constructions products, 2nd Canadian Ed., Cambridge, ON, Canada.
Cunat, P. J. (2001). Corrosion resistance of stainless steels in soils and in concrete, plenary days of the committee on the study of pipe corrosion and protection, Ceocor, Biarritz.
El-Taher, M. (2009). “The effect of wall and backfill soil deterioration on corrugated metal culvert stability.” Ph.D. thesis, Queen’s Univ., Kingston, ON, Canada.
El-Taher, M., and Moore, I. D. (2008). “Finite element study of stability of corroded metal culverts.”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 157–166.
Gassman, S. L. (2005). Specifications for culvert pipe used in SCDOT highway applications, South Carolina Dept. of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
Gluszko, M. (2008). Issues of corrosion protection of steel structures and electrical power equipment operated under atmospheric conditions, Electrotechnics Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Hepfner, J. J. (2001). “Statewide corrosivity study on corrugated steel culvert pipe.” Rep. No. FHWA/MT-01-001/8148, U.S. Dept. of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration, MT.
Janusz, L., and Madaj, A. (2009). Engineering structures from corrugated plates: Design and construction, 2nd Ed., Transport and Communication Publishers, Warsaw, Poland.
Kearey, P., Brooks, M., and Hill, I. (2002). An introduction to geophysical exploration, Blackwell Science, Oxford, U.K.
Matsushima, I. (2000). Carbon steel—Corrosion by soils, in Uhlig’s corrosion handbook, R. W. Revie, ed., 3rd Ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
McCarter, W. J., Blewett, J., Chrisp, T. M., and Starrs, G. (2005). “Electrical property measurements using a modified hydraulic oedometer.” Can. Geotech. J., 42(2), 655–662.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). (2002). “Assessment and rehabilitation of existing culverts: A synthesis of highway practice.” Synthesis 303, Transportation Research Board—The National Academies, Washington, DC.
National Corrugated Steel Plate Association (NCSPA). (2000). CSP durability guide, Washington, DC.
Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). (2001). “Paints and lacquers. Anti-corrosion protection of steel structures by means of the painting protection systems. Part 2: Classification of environments.” PN-EN ISO 12944-2, Warsaw, Poland.
Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). (2004). “Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in construction works and road construction.” PN-EN 13242, Warsaw, Poland.
Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). (2005a). “Protection of metallic materials against corrosion. The risk of corrosion earth. Part 1: General.” PN-EN 12501-1, Warsaw, Poland.
Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). (2005b). “Protection of metallic materials against corrosion. The risk of corrosion earth. Part 2: Materials with low-alloy and non-alloyed steels.” PN-EN 12501-2, Warsaw, Poland.
Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). (2009). “Geotechnics testing. Laboratory testing of soils. Part 1: Moisture content determination.” PKN-CEN ISO/TS 17892-1, Warsaw, Poland.
Regulation of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs (MTMA). (2000). Journal of Laws No. 63, item 735 on the technical conditions to be met by traffic engineering objects and their location, Prime Minister’s Office of Republic of Poland, Warsaw, Poland.
Reid, J. M., Czerewko, M. A., and Cripps, J. C. (2005). “Sulfate specification for structural backfills.”, Wokingham, U.K.
Reynolds, J. M. (2011). An introduction to applied and environmental geophysics, Wiley, New York.
Samouelian, A., Cousin, I., Tabbagh, A., Bruand, A., and Richard, G. (2005). “Electrical resistivity survey in soil science: A review.” Soil Tillage Res., 83(2), 173–193.
Wranglen, G. (1985). An introduction to corrosion and protection of metals, 2nd Ed., Chapman and Hall, London.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 4, 2014
Accepted: Jul 10, 2014
Published online: Sep 23, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 23, 2015
Published in print: Dec 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.