Spring 2009

4/11/2009 1 SPRING 09
CULVERTS
4/11/2009 2 SPRING 09
CULVERT
Culvert is a structure which provides
passage facility over an obstacle without
closing the way underneath.
Its span is less than 20 feet.
Passage may be for a railway track, road or
pedestrians etc.
Obstacle to be crossed may be a canal, a
drain etc.
4/11/2009 3 SPRING 09
TYPES OF CULVERT
Depending on Material of construction
culverts has the following types
1. Concrete Culverts
2. Brick Culverts
3. Stone Culverts
4. Metal Culverts
5. High Density Polyethylene Plastic Pipes


4/11/2009 4 SPRING 09
TYPES OF CULVERT
1- CONCRETE CULVERT
Box Culvert
Rigid Frames Culvert
Pipe Culvert
Arch Culvert







4/11/2009 5 SPRING 09
TYPES OF CULVERT

2- BRICK CULVERT


3- STONE CULVERT


4/11/2009 6 SPRING 09
TYPES OF CULVERT

4- METAL CULVERT


5- HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE PLASTIC
PIPES


4/11/2009 7 SPRING 09
CULVERTS
4/11/2009 8 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Economy: The design of a culvert always include
an economic evaluation.
Site Data:
Survey should be conducted to identify information
on all features affected by installation of the culvert,
such as elevations and locations of
Houses
Commercial buildings
Croplands
Roadways


4/11/2009 9 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Permitting and Regulations:
Designers of stream crossings must be aware of
relevant local and Federal laws and permit
requirements.
Aesthetics:
Structure geometry, materials, and the texture,
patterning, and color of structure surfaces shall
be selected to blend with the adjacent landscape
and provide an attractive appearance.
4/11/2009 10 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Culvert Location: Culvert location involves
the horizontal and vertical alignment of the
culvert with respect to both the stream and
the highway. It affects
stream and embankment stability,
construction and maintenance costs,
Safety and integrity of the highway.



4/11/2009 11 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Waterway Data: The installation of a culvert
through a highway embankment may
significantly constrict the floodplain. Therefore,
collect pre-construction data to predict the
consequences of this alteration.
Roadway Data: The proposed or existing
roadway affects culvert cost, hydraulic
efficiency, and alignment.
Check the culvert design after the roadway
plans are completed.

4/11/2009 12 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Allowable Headwater:
Base the design headwater on
Damage to adjacent property
Damage to the culvert and the roadway
Traffic interruption
Hazard to human life


4/11/2009 13 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Outlet Velocity:
Higher outlet velocity can cause
streambed scour
bank erosion in the vicinity of the culvert outlet.

4/11/2009 14 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
End Treatments:
It act as a retaining wall to keep
the roadway embankment material
out of the culvert opening.
Traffic safety
Flood protection
Piping prevention.


4/11/2009 15 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Traffic Safety: Cross-drainage work is
necessary in any highway project to keep
water away from the highway. In absence of
cross drainage work, water can pose a safety
threat to vehicles and associated drivers and
passengers.


4/11/2009 16 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Culvert Type Selection:
Primary factors affecting culvert type
selection are
Economics
Hydraulic properties
Durability
Strength.


4/11/2009 17 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Culvert Shapes:
Culvert can have any of the following
shapes
Circular
Pipe-arch and elliptical
Box (or rectangular)
Arch



4/11/2009 18 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Flood frequencies. The 25-year frequency
storm shall be routed through all culverts
and the 100-year storm shall be used as a
check
Velocity limitations
a. Minimum cleaning velocity: 3.0 fps
b.Maximum velocity: Should be less than
scouring velocity.
4/11/2009 19 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Length and slope: Culvert length and slope
should be chosen to approximate existing
topography.
Siltation Control: When streams or overland
drain flow through culverts and carry
siltation, it is important to design the culvert
such that the culvert barrel will not be
clogged with silt and reduce its capacity.


4/11/2009 20 SPRING 09
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Barrel bends: A straight culvert alignment is
desirable to avoid clogging, increased
construction costs, and reduced hydraulic
efficiency.
4/11/2009 21 SPRING 09
CULVERTS
4/11/2009 22 SPRING 09
HYDRAULIC DESIGN
DEFINITIONS
DESIGN PROCESS
DESIGN EXAMPLE

4/11/2009 23 SPRING 09
DEFINITIONS
Backwater: Constriction of flow causes a
rise in the normal water surface elevation
upstream of the constriction. The magnitude
of the rise, in feet, is called backwater.
Critical Velocity: Non silting and non
scouring velocity is called as critical
velocity.
Critical depth: Depth corresponding to
Critical velocity is called as Critical Depth.
4/11/2009 24 SPRING 09
DEFINITIONS
Free outlets: Free outlets are outlets with a
tail-water equal to or lower than critical
depth.
Headwater: The vertical distance from the
culvert invert (flow line) at the culvert
entrance to the water surface elevation of the
upstream channel.

4/11/2009 25 SPRING 09
DEFINITIONS
Hydraulic grade line: The hydraulic grade
line is the depth to which water would rise
in vertical tubes connected to the sides of a
culvert barrel.
Invert: Invert refers to the inside bottom of
the culvert.


4/11/2009 26 SPRING 09
DEFINITIONS
Normal flow: Normal flow occurs in the channel
reach when the discharge, velocity, and depth of
flow do not change throughout the reach. The
water surface profile and channel bottom slope
will be parallel.

Inlet Coefficient (Ke):
The inlet coefficient Ke, is a measure of the
hydraulic efficiency of the inlet, with lower
values indicating greater efficiency.
Recommended inlet coefficients are given in Table

4/11/2009 27 SPRING 09
NOMOGRAPHS
Nomograph is the graphical relation
between
1. Discharge, Q (cfs)
2. Diameter, D (in)
3. Head, H (ft)
Knowing any two of the given three
quantities, we can find the third quantity
using a Nomograph.

4/11/2009 29 SPRING 09
4/11/2009 30 SPRING 09
4/11/2009 31 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Step 1: Design data:
Q = discharge (cfs)
L = culvert length (ft)
S = culvert slope (ft/ft)
TW= tail-water depth (ft)
V = velocity for trial diameter (ft/s)
Ke = inlet loss coefficient
HW= allowable headwater depth for the
design storm (ft)
D = pipe diameter (in)
4/11/2009 32 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Step 2:
Determine trial culvert size
Assume a trial velocity 5 to 8 ft/s
Computing the culvert area, A = Q/V
Determine the culvert diameter.

4/11/2009 33 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Step 3:
Calculate HW for both inlet and outlet
control.
Inlet control: Enter inlet control
Nomograph with D,Q and Compute HW
If it is too large or too small, try another
culvert size.

4/11/2009 34 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Outlet control:
Compute the headwater elevation HW from
Equation (A)
HW = H + ho - LS ------------- (Equation A)
where: H =head loss, ft
ho = (critical depth + D) or tail-water depth,
whichever is greater
L = culvert length
S = culvert slope

4/11/2009 35 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Step 4:
Compare the computed headwaters and use the
higher HW Nomograph to determine if the
culvert is under inlet or outlet control.
If inlet control governs, then the design is
complete and no further analysis is required.
If outlet control governs and the HW is
unacceptable, select a larger trial size and find
another HW
Since the smaller size of culvert had been
selected for allowable HW by the inlet control
Nomographs, the inlet control for the larger
pipe need not be checked.

4/11/2009 36 SPRING 09
DESIGN PROCESS
Step 5:
Calculate exit velocity and if erosion
problems might be expected, appropriate
energy dissipation design is required.
4/11/2009 37 SPRING 09
Design Problem
Input Data
Discharge for 25-yr flood = 35 cfs
Discharge for 100-yr flood = 70 cfs
Allowable Hw for 100-yr discharge = 7.0 ft
Length of culvert = 100 ft
Natural channel invert elevations
- inlet = 15.50 ft,
-outlet = 15.35 ft
Culvert slope = 0.0015 ft/ft

Design Problem
Tail-water depth for 100-yr discharge = 4.0
ft
Tail-water depth is the normal depth in
downstream channel
Entrance type = Groove end with headwall
Solution:
Assume a culvert velocity of 5 ft/s.
Required flow area = 70 cfs/5 ft/s = 14 sq, ft
(for the 100-yr recurrence flood).
Design Problem
The corresponding culvert diameter can
be calculated by using the formula for
area of a circle:
Area = (3.14D
2
)/4 or D = (Area times
4/3.14)^0.5.
Therefore: D = ((14 sq ft x 4)/3.14)0.5 x
12 in./ft) = 50.7 in. (Say 48, taking
nearest size of commercially available
pipe)
Design Problem
Using the inlet control Nomograph, with a
pipe diameter of 48 in. and a discharge of
70 cfs; read a HW/D value of 0.93.
The depth of headwater (HW) is (0.93) x
(4) = 3.72 ft which is less than the
allowable headwater.


Design Problem
The culvert is checked for outlet control.
With an entrance loss coefficient Ke of
0.20, a culvert length of 100 ft, and a pipe
diameter of 48 in., an H value of 0.77 ft is
determined.
The headwater for outlet control is
computed by the equation:
HW = H + hO LS


Design Problem
For the tail-water depth lower than the
top of culvert,
hO = Tw or (critical dept in culvert + D)
which ever is greater.
hO = 3.0 ft or hO = (2.55 + 4.0) = 3.28 ft
The headwater depth for outlet control is:
HW = H + hO LS = 0.77 + 3.28 (100) x
(0.0015) = 3.90 ft
Design Problem
Since HW for outlet control (3.90 ft) is
greater than the HW for inlet control
(3.72 ft), outlet control governs the
culvert design.
Thus, the maximum headwater expected
for a 100-yr recurrence flood is 3.90 ft,
which is less than the allowable
headwater.

Design Problem
Estimate outlet exit velocity. Since this
culvert is on outlet control and discharges
into an open channel downstream, the
culvert will be flowing full at the flow
depth in the channel.
Using the 100-year design peak discharge
of 70 cfs and the area of a 48 inch or 4.0 ft
diameter culvert. The exit velocity will be:
Q = VA

Design Problem
Therefore: V = 70 / (3.14(4.0)
2
)/4 = 5.6
ft/s
Check for minimum velocity using the 25-
year flow of 35 cfs.
Therefore: V = 35 / (3.14(4.0)
2
)/4 = 2.8
ft/s