Performance of two cast-in-place box culverts under high embankments

Abstract

Two cast-in-place reinforced concrete box culverts (Longs Creek and McBean Brook culverts) with similar geometry were instrumented to monitor earth pressures. The Longs Creek structure is a 7.30 m wide by 4.53 m high double-cell box under 14.10 m of fill, constructed using the positive projection installation (PPI) method. The McBean Brook structure is a 6.75 m wide by 4.65 m high double-cell box culvert under 25.10 m of fill, constructed using the induced trench installation (ITI) method. Earth pressures were monitored as the fill height above the culvert was increased for both structures. Data from the McBean Brook culvert at a fill height of 14.40 m are compared with the data from the Longs Creek culvert. The similar geometries of these two prototype culverts provide a unique opportunity to compare their performance based on the two different installation methods. For a comparable height of soil cover, measured vertical earth pressures on the roofs were 0.94 and 0.56 times the overburden pressures for ...