Physical Evaluation of the Dissipation of a Concentrated Load When Applied to Reinforced Concrete Pipe

Unlike soil load, live load is often applied to a localized section of pipe, depending on the depth of bury and diameter of the pipe. Once the load reaches the crown of the pipe it is dissipated through the structure itself. In the past, engineers have either followed the recommendations of industry, or simply ignored this load dissipation. In order to examine the performance level of concrete pipe when a concentrated load is applied to it, members of the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) performed physical tests on several sizes of pipe. Concentrated load tests were performed on pipe sizes of 300 mm through 1200 mm (12 - 48 inches) in internal diameter. For the governing condition of a concentrated load at the end of the pipe, the test results indicate that a coefficient of Coeff = 14500 D_o ^-1.58 + 0.755 (metric), Coeff = 242 D_o ^-1.97 + 0.855( imperial) multiplied by the outside diameter of the pipe would result in an accurate representation of the live load distribution through a concrete pipe.