Hydraulic Performances of Minimum Energy Loss Culverts in Australia
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 21, Issue 4
Abstract
Culverts are among the most common hydraulic structures. Modern designs do not differ from ancient structures and are often characterized by significant afflux at the design flows. A significant advance was the development of the minimum energy loss (MEL) culverts in the late 1950s. The design technique allows a drastic reduction in the upstream flooding associated with lower costs. The development and operational performances of this type of structure is presented. The successful operation of MEL culverts for more than 40 years is documented with first-hand records during and after floods. The experiences demonstrate the design soundness, while highlighting the importance of the hydraulic expertise of the design engineers.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writer thanks Professor Colin J. Apelt (University of Queensland) for his valuable advice. He acknowledges the assistance of numerous students who surveyed the structures and Dr. M. R. Gourlay (The University of Queensland) and Dr. J. H. Loveless (University of Bristol) who provided him with relevant information.
References
Apelt, C. J. (1973). “Settlement shores—Port Macquarie. Flood outlet structure A.” Rep. CH15/73, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queensland, Australia.
Apelt, C. J. (1974). “Settlement shores—Port Macquarie. Flood outlet structure B.” Rep. CH16/74, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queensland, Australia.
Apelt, C. J. (1975). “Settlement shores—Port Macquarie. Flood outlet structure B. Appendix.” Rep. CH16/74, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queensland, Australia.
Apelt, C. J. (1983). “Hydraulics of minimum energy culverts and bridge waterways.” Australian Civil Engrg. Trans., (IEAust.), CE25(2), 89–95.
Apelt, C. J. (1994). “The minimum energy loss culvert.” Videocassette VHS color, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queensland, Australia.
Ballance, M. H. (1951). “The Roman bridges of the Via Flaminia.” Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 19, 78–117.
Brodie, I. (1988). “Breaching of coastal lagoons. A model study.” MSc thesis, Univ. of New South Wales, Australia.
California Division of Highways (1956). “California culvert practice: Reprint of a series of technical abstracts from California highways and public works.” Division of Highways, 2nd Ed., Dept. of Public Works, Calif., 119.
Chanson, H. (1999). The hydraulics of open channel flows: An introduction, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, U.K.
Chanson, H. (2000). “Introducing originality and innovation in engineering teaching: The hydraulic design of culverts.” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., 25(4), 377–391.
Chanson, H. (2002). “Hydraulics of large culvert beneath Roman aqueduct of Nîmes.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 128(5), 326–330.
Chanson, H. (2003). “Minimum energy loss structures in Australia: Historical development and experience.” Proc., 12th Nat. Eng. Heritage Conf., N. Sheridan, ed., IEAust., Toowoomba Qld, Australia, 22–28.
Chanson, H. (2004a). The hydraulics of open channel flows: An introduction, 2nd Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, U.K.
Chanson, H. (2004b). “Discussion of overtopping breaching of noncohesive homogeneous embankments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 130(4), 371–374.
Chanson, H. (2004c). “Storm and flood at Norman Creek, Brisbane(Australia) on 7 November 2004.” IAHR Media Library, ⟨Category urban drainage, ⟨http://www.iahrmedialibrary.net/⟩.
Coleman, S. E., Andrews, D. P., and Webby, M. G. (2002). “Overtopping breaching of noncohesive homogeneous embankments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 128(9), 829–838.
Cottman, N. H. (1976). “Fivefold increase obtained in the capacity of a small bridge using a shaped minimum energy subway.” Aust. Road Res., 6(4), 42–45.
Cottman, N. H., and McKay, G. R. (1990). “Bridges and culverts reduced in size and cost by use of critical flow conditions.” Proc., Inst. Civ. Engrs., London, Part 1, 88, 421–437. [“Discussion.” (1992). 90, 643–645.]
Evans, A. H. (1928). The palace of Minos: A comparative account of the successive stages of the early cretan civilization as illustrated by the discoveries at Knossos, Macmillan, London, 2, Part 1, 390.
Federal Highway Administration (1972). “Hydraulic design of improved inlets for culverts.” Hydraulic engineering circulars HEC13, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Bridge Division, Hydraulics Branch, 172.
Federal Highway Administration (1985). “Hydraulic design of highway culverts.” Hydraulic Design Series No. 5, Rep. No. FHWA-IP-85-15, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, 253.
Gordon, A. D. (1981). “The behaviour of lagoon inlets.” Proc., 5th Australian Conf. Coastal and Ocean Eng., Perth, Wash., 62–63.
Gordon, A. D. (1990). “Coastal lagoon entrance dynamics.” Proc., 22nd Intl. Conf. Coastal Eng., B. L. Edge, ed., 3, Chap. 218, Delft, The Netherlands, 2880–2893.
Hamill, L. (1999). “Bridge hydraulics.” E & FN Spon, London, 367.
Hee, M. (1969). “Hydraulics of culvert design including constant energy concept.” Proc., 20th Conf. of Local Authority Engineers, Dept. of Local Government, Queensland, Australia, Paper 9, 1–27.
Henderson, F. M. (1966). Open channel flow, MacMillan, New York.
Loveless, J. H. (1984). “A comparison of the performance of standard and novel culvert designs including the effects of sedimentation.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. Hydraulic Design in Water Resources Engineering: Channels and Channel Control Structures, K. V. H. Smith, ed., Springer, New York, 1, 183–193.
Lowe, S. A. (1970). “Comparison of energy culverts to standard three cell box culverts.” MS thesis, Univ. of Manitoba, Canada.
McKay, G. R. (1970). “Pavement drainage.” Proc., 5th Aust. Road Res. Board Conf., Vol. 5, Part 4, 305–326.
McKay, G. R. (1971). “Design of minimum energy culverts.” Research Rep., Dept of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 29.
McKay, G. R. (1978). “Design principles of minimum energy waterways.” Proc., Workshop on Minimum Energy Design of Culvert and Bridge Waterways, Australian Road Research Board, Melbourne, Australia, Session 1, 1–39.
McMahon, G. M. (1979). “The expansion characteristics of free-surface flow.” MS thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Queesland, Australia, 190.
Matthews, T. G., and McKay, G. R. (1978). “The history and development of minimum energy structures in water flow control.” Aust. Road Res., 8(2), 47–48.
Neill, C. R. (1962). “Hydraulic tests on pipe culverts.” Alberta Highway Research Rep. No. 62.1, Research Council of Alberta, Edmonton, 52.
O’Connor, C. (1993). Roman bridges, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 235.
Porter, K. F. (1978). “Workshop on minimum energy design of culvert and bridge waterways.”Australian Road Research Board, Melbourne, Australia.
Vallentine, H. R. (1969). Applied hydrodynamics, SI Ed., Butterworths, London.
Visser, P. J., Vrijling, J. K., and Verhagen, H. J. (1990). “A field experiment on breach growth in sand dykes.” Proc., 22nd Int. Conf. Coastal Engineering, B. Edge, ed., Delft, The Netherlands, 2, 2097–2100.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 19, 2006
Accepted: Sep 8, 2006
Published online: Aug 1, 2007
Published in print: Aug 2007
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.