Modeling the In Situ Performance of Culvert Joints in a Pavement Structure

摘要

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MHI) is responsible for approximately 65,000 culverts. Under typical field state conditions, corrugated steel pipe (CSP) culverts have a design life of approximately 30 years. These culverts can pull apart at the joints due to the level of friction between the culvert and surrounding soil, causing the culvert and ultimately the road to fail. This study employed a computational road model to investigate the strain behaviour along the culvert-road soil interface and to examine the mechanisms by which culvert joints pull apart. Two pavement structures were modeled in two different moisture conditions: a primary and secondary road structure, in both wet and dry moisture states. The secondary road structure in a wet moisture condition state had overall higher magnitudes of shear and horizontal strains compared to the other road structures and condition states. From a dry to wet moisture condition state on the secondary road, shear strain increased by 119%, the horizontal strain in the longitudinal direction increased by 114%, and the horizontal strain in the transverse direction increased by 116%. This research showed that the horizontal strain in the longitudinal direction was greater in magnitude for the wet moisture condition states in comparison to the dry moisture condition states. Improved mechanistic modeling of culverts in diverse field state conditions could significantly assist road engineers to better design culvert installations. Accurately modeling and diagnosing culverts non-destructively could also help identify early signs of structural failure, which would enable road agencies to implement a proactive methodology for culvert remediation.