Behavior of Deeply Corrugated Steel Plate in Culvert

Most of the current design guidelines for metal box‐type culverts have been developed based on finite‐element analysis, in which the soil is modeled with plane strain and the culvert is represented with beam‐column elements. These culverts are generally fabricated with shallow‐depth‐corrugation plates and additional stiffening ribs. A recent innovation in the box‐type culverts involves the use of a deeply corrugated section without additional stiffening members. There is a concern that the corrugations may flatten under load, reducing the resistance to bending and possibly becoming unstable. The response of a 140 mm (5.5 in.) deep‐corrugated steel plate, measured in a field test of a box‐type culvert, indicates that the plate can be analyzed using simple‐beam theory. Strain in the plate and changes in the corrugation depth were recorded during the backfill process and when subjected to simulated‐service loads. Since the results show that the deeply corrugated section does not distort significantly under design loads, treatment of the plate as a beam is valid. However, because the culvert is a permanent installation under State Route 554, it was not possible to test the ultimate‐bending capacity of the deep‐corrugated section.