A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction

from one side to the other side. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be
made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom, the word can also
be used for a longer artificially buried watercourse.[1]
Culverts are commonly used both as cross-drains to relieve drainage of ditches at the roadside, and
to pass water under a road at natural drainage and stream crossings. A culvert may be a bridge-like
structure designed to allow vehicle or pedestrian traffic to cross over the waterway while allowing
adequate passage for the water.
Culverts come in many sizes and shapes including round, elliptical, flat-bottomed, open-bottomed,
pear-shaped, and box-like constructions. The culvert type and shape selection is based on a number
of factors including requirements for hydraulic performance, limitations on upstream water surface
elevation, and roadway embankment height.[2]
If the span of a crossing is greater than 12 feet (3.7 m), then the structure is termed a bridge[citation
needed]
. A structure that carries water above land is known as an aqueduct.
The process of removing culverts, which is becoming increasingly common, is known as daylighting.
In the UK, the practice is also known as deculverting.[3]

Contents

 1Materials
 2Design and engineering
 3Failures
 4Environmental impacts
 5Fish passage
 6Minimum energy loss culverts
 7Forestry
 8See also
 9Notes
 10References
 11External links

Materials[edit]
Culverts can be constructed of a variety of materials including cast-in-place or precast concrete
(reinforced or non-reinforced), galvanized steel, aluminum, or plastic (typically high-density
polyethylene). Two or more materials may be combined to form composite structures. For example,
open-bottom corrugated steel structures are often built on concrete footings.

Design and engineering[edit]

Construction or installation at a culvert site generally results in disturbance of the site's soil, stream
banks, or stream bed, and can result in the occurrence of unwanted problems such as scour holes
or slumping of banks adjacent to the culvert structure.[2][4]
Culverts must be properly sized and installed, and protected from erosion and scour. Many U.S.
agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Land
Management,[5] and Environmental Protection Agency,[6] as well as state or local authorities,[4] require
that culverts be designed and engineered to meet specific federal, state, or local regulations and
guidelines to ensure proper function and to protect against culvert failures.
Culverts are classified by standards for their load capacities, water flow capacities, life spans, and
installation requirements for bedding and backfill.[2] Most agencies adhere to these standards when
designing, engineering, and specifying culverts.

Failures[edit]
Culvert failures can occur for a wide variety of reasons including maintenance, environmental, and
installation-related failures, functional or process failures related to capacity and volume causing the
erosion of the soil around or under them, and structural or material failures that cause culverts to fail
due to collapse or corrosion of the materials from which they are made.[7]
If the failure is sudden and catastrophic, it can result in injury or loss of life. Sudden road collapses
are often the result of poorly designed and engineered culvert crossing sites or unexpected changes
in the surrounding environment cause design parameters to be exceeded. Water passing through
undersized culverts will scour away the surrounding soil over time. This can cause a sudden failure
during medium-sized rain events. Accidents from culvert failure can also occur if a culvert has not
been adequately sized and a flood event overwhelms the culvert, or disrupts the road or railway
above it.
Ongoing culvert function without failure depends on proper design and engineering considerations
being given to load, hydraulic flow, surrounding soil analysis, backfill and bedding compaction, and
erosion protection. Improperly designed backfill support around culverts can result in material
collapse or failure from inadequate load support.[7][2]
For existing culverts which have experienced degradation, loss of structural integrity or need to meet
new codes or standards, rehabilitation using a reline pipe maybe preferred versus replacement.
Sizing of a reline culvert uses the same hydraulic flow design criteria as that of a new culvert
however as the reline culvert is meant to be inserted into an existing culvert or host pipe, reline
installation requires the grouting of the annular space between the host pipe and the surface of
reline pipe (typically using a low compression strength grout) so as to prevent or
reduce seepage and soil migration. Grouting also serves as a means in establishing a structural
connection between the liner, host pipe and soil. Depending on the size and annular space to be
filled as well as the pipe elevation between the inlet and outlet, grouting maybe required to be
performed in multiple stages or "lifts". If multiple lifts are required, then a grouting plan is required
which defines the placement of grout feed tubes, air tubes, type of grout to be used and if injecting or
pumping grout then the required developed pressure for injection. As the diameter of the reline pipe
will be smaller than the host pipe, the cross-sectional flow area will be smaller. By selecting a reline
pipe with a very smooth internal surface, with an approximate Hazen-Williams Friction Factor, C,
value of between 140–150, the decreased flow area can be offset and hydraulic flow rates potentially
increased by way of reduced surface flow resistance. Examples of pipe materials with high C-factors
are high-density polyethylene (150) and polyvinyl chloride (140).[8]

Environmental impacts[edit]

This culvert has a natural surface bottom connecting wildlife habitat.

Safe and stable stream crossings can accommodate wildlife and protect stream health, while
reducing expensive erosion and structural damage. Undersized and poorly placed culverts can
cause problems for water quality and aquatic organisms. Poorly designed culverts can degrade
water quality via scour and erosion, as well as restrict the movement of aquatic organisms between
upstream and downstream habitat. Fish are a common victim in the loss of habitat due to poorly
designed crossing structures.
Culverts that offer adequate aquatic organism passage reduce impediments to movement of fish,
wildlife, and other aquatic life that require instream passage. Poorly designed culverts are also more
apt to become jammed with sediment and debris during medium to large scale rain events. If the
culvert cannot pass the water volume in the stream, then the water may overflow over the road
embankment. This may cause significant erosion, ultimately washing out the culvert. The
embankment material that is washed away can clog other structures downstream, causing them to
fail as well. It can also damage crops and property. A properly sized structure and hard bank
armoring can help to alleviate this pressure.

Aquatic organism passage compatible culvert replacement in Franklin, Vermont, just upstream from Lake
Carmi
Culvert style replacement is a widespread practice in stream restoration. Long-term benefits of this
practice include reduced risk of catastrophic failure and improved fish passage. If best management
practices are followed, short-term impacts on the aquatic biology are minimal.[9]

Fish passage[edit]
Further information: Fish ladder
While the culvert discharge capacity derives from hydrological and hydraulic engineering
considerations,[10] this results often in large velocities in the barrel, creating a possible fish passage
barrier. Critical culvert parameters in terms of fish passage are the dimensions of the barrel,
particularly its length, cross-sectional shape, and invert slope. The behavioural response by fish
species to culvert dimensions, light conditions, and flow turbulence may play a role in their swimming
ability and culvert passage rate. There is no simple technical means to ascertain the turbulence
characteristics most relevant to fish passage in culverts, but it is understood that the flow turbulence
plays a key role in fish behaviour.[11][12] The interactions between swimming fish
and vortical structures involve a broad range of relevant length and tine scales.[13] Recent
discussions emphasised the role of secondary flow motion, considerations of fish dimensions in
relation to the spectrum of turbulence scales, and the beneficial role of turbulent structures provided
that fish are able to exploit them.[11][14][15][16][17][18][19] The current literature on culvert fish passage focused
mostly on fast-swimming fish species, but a few studies argued for better guidelines for small-bodied
fish including juveniles.[16]

Minimum energy loss culverts[edit]

Culvert size relative to a person

In the coastal plains of Queensland, Australia, torrential rains during the wet season place a heavy
demand on culverts. The natural slope of the flood plains is often very small, and little fall (or head
loss) is permissible in the culverts. Researchers developed and patented the design procedure of
minimum energy loss culverts which yield small afflux.[20][21][22]
A minimum energy loss culvert or waterway is a structure designed with the concept of minimum
head loss. The flow in the approach channel is contracted through a streamlined inlet into the barrel
where the channel width is minimum, and then it is expanded in a streamlined outlet before being
finally released into the downstream natural channel. Both the inlet and outlet must be streamlined to
avoid significant form losses. The barrel invert is often lowered to increase the discharge capacity.
The concept of minimum energy loss culverts was developed by a shire engineer in Victoria and a
professor at the University of Queensland during the late 1960s.[23] While a number of small-size
structures were designed and built in Victoria, some major structures were designed, tested and built
in south-east Queensland.