Earth pressures exerted on an induced trench cast-in-place double-cell rectangular box culvert

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1267-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olajide Samuel Oshati ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar ◽  
Allison B. Schriver

Earth pressure data from the field instrumentation of a cast-in-place reinforced rectangular box culvert are presented in this paper. The instrumented culvert is a 2.60 m by 3.60 m double-cell reinforced cast-in-place rectangular box buried under 25.10 m of fill constructed using the induced trench installation (ITI) method. The average earth pressure measured across the roof was 0.42 times the overburden pressure, and an average of 0.52 times the overburden pressure was measured at mid-height of the culvert on the sidewalls. Base contact pressure under the rectangular box culvert was also measured, providing field-based data demonstrating increased base pressure resulting from downward drag forces developed along the sidewalls of the box culvert. An average increase of 25% from the measured vertical earth pressures on the roof plus the culvert dead load (DL) pressure was calculated at the culvert base. A model culvert was also tested in a geotechnical centrifuge to obtain data on earth pressures at the top, sides, and base of the culvert. The data from the centrifuge testing were compared with the prototype structure, and the centrifuge test results agreed closely with the measured field prototype pressures, in spite of the fact that full similitude was not attempted in centrifuge testing.

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney P. McAffee ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar

The field performance of an induced trench installation is compared to the results of centrifuge testing and numerical modelling. The measured vertical pressure at the crown of the pipe in the field ranged from 0.24 to 0.36 times the overburden pressure. The horizontal earth pressures measured in the field at the springline level determined a coefficient of lateral earth pressure between 0.39 and 0.49. The culvert was monitored over a period of 2 years following completion of embankment construction indicating no measurable changes in earth pressures and deformations. A model box culvert simulating the prototype height of soil cover, the pipe width, and the thickness of the compressible layer was tested using a geotechnical centrifuge. The prototype structure was also evaluated using numerical modelling to predict full earth pressure distribution and deformations. A comparison of field data, centrifuge testing, and numerical modelling shows that the Marston–Spangler theory used in designing induced trench culverts is conservative. The theory however, does not address or predict the nonuniform pressures on the top, sides, or bottom of the pipe, and therefore numerical analysis should be used to estimate the complete pressure distribution.


2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. McGuigan ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar

Induced trench construction is routinely used for circular conduits, but its application for box culverts is less common. To understand the complex soil–structure interaction issues related to the design of induced trench box culverts, centrifuge tests were performed to measure earth pressures on a model box culvert installed in several induced trench configurations. These tests were modelled with FLAC and good agreement was achieved. A parametric study performed with FLAC identified a preferred compressible zone geometry having a width of 1.2 times the culvert width and a thickness of 0.5 times the culvert height. For this geometry, the earth pressure on the top was 0.28 times the overburden, the lateral earth pressure on the sides was 0.47 times the mid-height overburden, and the contact pressure at the base was 0.73 times the overburden plus the pressure from the dead load of the culvert. The average base contact pressures for the induced trench geometry were 35% lower than those for the corresponding positive projecting case. The induced trench method, therefore, appears to be a viable option for box culverts installed under high embankments.


Author(s):  
Bethanie A. Parker ◽  
Rodney P. McAffee ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar

An induced trench installation was instrumented to monitor earth pressures and settlements during construction. Some of the unique features of this case study are as follows: (a) both contact and earth pressure cells were used; (b) part of the culvert is under a new embankment and part was installed in a wide trench within an existing embankment; (c) a large stockpile was temporarily placed over the induced trench; and (d) the compressible material was placed in two stages. The maximum vertical pressure measured in the field at the crown of the culvert was 0.24 times the overburden pressure. The maximum horizontal pressure measured on the side of the culvert at the springline was 0.45 times the overburden pressure. The column of soil directly above the compressible zone settled approximately 40% more than did the adjacent fill. The field results at the crown and springline compared reasonably with those observed with numerical modeling. However, the overall pressure distribution on the pipe was expected to be nonuniform, the average vertical pressure calculated by using numerical analysis on top of the culvert over its full width was 0.61 times the overburden pressure, and the average horizontal pressure calculated on the side of the culvert over its full height was 0.44 times the overburden pressure. When the full pressure distribution on the pipe is considered, the recommended design loads from the Marston–Spangler theory slightly underpredict the maximum loads, and the vertical loads control the design.


2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1807-1821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. McGuigan ◽  
Olajide Samuel Oshati ◽  
Bethanie A. Parker ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar

Induced trench construction is commonly used to reduce earth pressures on rigid circular and box culverts. Most of the reported literature pertains to the performance of induced trench culverts during construction and shortly after construction. This paper addresses the post-construction performance of induced trench culverts. First, results of field inspection reports are presented as an indirect assessment of performance of 90 induced trench culverts installed in New Brunswick that have been in service for up to 24 years. Second, earth pressure measurements are presented from three case studies where prototype installations were monitored over periods ranging from 4 to 9 years. The case studies presented include a single circular culvert, a cast-in-place double-cell box culvert, and a twin circular culvert installation. The fill heights above the instrumented structures varied from 19 to 25 m. All the available data from both the field inspections and earth pressure measurements indicate that the culverts installed in induced trenches are performing in a satisfactory manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Inyeop Chu ◽  
Sang-Kyun Woo ◽  
Sang Inn Woo ◽  
Joonyoung Kim ◽  
Kicheol Lee

Due to the lack of surface space, most structures are heading underground. The box culvert is underground infrastructure and serves to protect the buried structure from the underground environments, but it has a different characteristic from other structures in that the inner space is empty. Therefore, in this study, the vertical earth pressure which is the most significant effective stress acting on a box culvert was measured by conducting a geotechnical centrifuge model test. A box culvert was installed following the embankment installation method, and the vertical earth pressure acting on it was measured considering the cover depth, gravitational acceleration, and loading and unloading conditions. The soil pressure measured was greater than the existing theoretical value under high cover depth and the unloading condition, which is considered as the variability of many soils or the residual stress acting under the loading condition. Finally, a goodness-of-fit test was conducted as a part of variability analysis. The measured earth pressure was found to be considerably larger than the existing theoretical value, and the variability was large as well. This means the existing theoretical equation is under-designed, which should be reflected in future designs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. McGuigan ◽  
Arun J. Valsangkar

Although twin culverts are often preferred for watercourse crossing, little is known about the earth pressures they experience under high embankments. Centrifuge test results have been used in this research to verify a numerical model used to evaluate culvert spacing and compressible zone geometry for twin positive projecting and induced trench box culverts. Lower pressures were calculated for twin positive projecting culverts than for a single culvert. For the induced trench case, one compressible zone spanning both culverts was the preferred geometry for culverts spaced at 0.5Bc and 1.0Bc (where Bc is the culvert width), while two zones 1.2Bc wide were found to be optimal for 1.5Bc spacing. The twin configurations generally resulted in slightly higher vertical and lower lateral earth pressures than a single culvert configuration. The base contact pressures were 25%–76% greater than the top pressure plus dead load because of shear stresses mobilized along the sidewalls; however, they were 41%–47% lower than the pressures for positive projecting configurations. The maximum bending moments calculated for the induced trench culverts were 54%–59% lower than for the positive projecting ones. Induced trench construction therefore appears to be viable for twin box culverts, provided that frictional forces along the sidewalls are taken into account.


2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302098197
Author(s):  
Jason M Buenker ◽  
Scott J Brandenberg ◽  
Jonathan P Stewart

We describe two experiments performed on a 9-m-radius geotechnical centrifuge to evaluate dynamic soil–structure interaction effects on the cyclic failure potential of fine-grained soil. Each experiment incorporated three different structures with a range of mass and stiffness properties. Structures were founded on strip footings embedded in a thin layer of sand overlying lightly overconsolidated low-plasticity fine-grained soil. Shaking was applied to the base of the model container, consisting of scaled versions of recorded earthquake ground motions, sweep motions, and step waves. Data recorded during testing were processed and published on the platform DesignSafe. We describe the model configuration, sensor information, shaking events, and data processing procedures and present selected processed data to illustrate key model responses and to provide a benchmark for data use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 970-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Cristelo ◽  
Carlos Félix ◽  
Joaquim Figueiras

It is now accepted that current expeditious models for determining earth pressures on flexible underground structures under compacted layers do not include several technical nuances of the soil–structure interaction. Thus, these models are not capable of delivering an optimized design. The present paper compares the results from the well-known American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) model with two different numerical models — a user-friendly elastic model and a more robust finite element model — and with results retrieved from a full-scale monitoring of a concrete box culvert, 5.5 m high and 3.77 m width, over which a 15 m high embankment was built. This structure was instrumented selectively, over a period of almost 1 year, during which several parameters were recorded, including earth pressures and structural deformation. Results have shown that the two most significant drawbacks associated with the use of the AASHTO model are the inadequate evaluation of vertical pressure on the top slab and the coefficient of earth pressure, which results in a significant overestimation of the lateral pressures and, consequently, in an overall inefficient design of the structure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 1388-1403
Author(s):  
Campbell Bryden ◽  
Kaveh Arjomandi ◽  
Arun Valsangkar

When culverts are installed beneath high embankments, earth loads become excessive and the induced trench construction method is a viable design option to reduce the culvert loads to acceptable levels. However, limited field studies evaluating the performance of induced trench twin culverts are reported in the literature and the practicality and effectiveness of the induced trench construction method (in general) has been subject to recent criticism. This paper describes the performance of twin 3048 mm inside-diameter reinforced concrete culverts constructed with an induced trench beneath 15.3 m of fill. Research instruments and autonomous data acquisition systems were installed during construction to monitor (i) culvert earth pressures, (ii) embankment deformations, and (iii) groundwater elevations in the vicinity of the compressible fill. The experimental observations recorded throughout the construction phase are presented herein; the embankment deformations are indicative of effective positive arching within the induced trench region, and the average earth pressure at the culvert crown was reduced to approximately 48% of the overburden soil pressure. The experimental data are compared with those reported in the literature by others, and the conclusions attained from this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the induced trench construction method.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu ◽  
Guo ◽  
Han

Open-ended pipe piles have been increasingly used as the foundations for offshore structures. Considering the soil plugging effect, a novel analytical model is proposed in this paper to study the load transfer mechanism of open-ended pipe piles. A trilinear model for the external shaft friction was introduced, while a rigid plastic model was adopted to describe the load transfer at the pile-plug interface. Furthermore, an equilibrium equation of the soil plug was proposed, based on the hypothesis of a trilinear distribution of lateral earth pressure. The pile end resistance was analyzed by dividing it into two parts, i.e., the soil plug and pile annulus, the behaviors of which were described by the double broken line model. A calculation example was carried out to analyze the load transfer properties of the open-ended pipe piles. As a validation, similar load transfer processes of the open-ended pile were also captured in a newly built discrete element method model, mimicking the 100g centrifuge testing conditions.


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