Glossary

of Terms

533
534 Concrete Pipe Design Manual

GLOSSARY OF HYDRAULIC TERMS

(Chapters 2 and 3)
A ............ cross-sectional area of flow, square feet
A ............ drainage area, acres
AHW ...... allowable headwater depth at culvert entrance, feet
C ............ coefficient of runoff which is a function of the characteristics of the drainage area
C1 ............. constant in Manning’s Formula for full flow
D ............ height of culvert opening or diameter of pipe, inches or feet
dc .............. critical depth, feet
H ............ head loss, feet (the difference between the elevation of the entrance pool surface and the
outlet tailwater surface)
HW ........ headwater depth at culvert inlet measured from invert of pipe, feet
ho .............. vertical distance between the culvert invert at the outlet and the hydraulic grade line, feet
ke .............. entrance head loss coefficient
i ............. rainfall intensity, inches per hour
L ............ length of culvert, feet
n ............ Manning’s coefficient of roughness
Q ........... flow in sewer or culvert discharge, cubic feet per second
R ............ hydraulic radius, equals area of flow divided by wetted perimeter, feet
R ............ inside vertical rise of elliptical, arch pipe, or boxes, feet or inches
S ............ inside horizontal span of elliptical, arch pipe, or boxes, feet or inches
S ............ slope of sewer, feet per foot
So ............. slope of culvert, feet per foot
TW ......... tailwater depth at culvert outlet measured from invert of pipe, feet
V ............ velocity, feet per second
GLOSSARY OF LOAD TERMS
(Chapter 4 and Appendix B)
A ............ a constant corresponding to the shape of the pipe
ALL .................. distributed live load area on subsoil plane at outside top of pipe, square feet
As .................... area of transverse steel in a cradle expressed as a percentage of the area of concrete in
the cradle at the invert
Bc .................... outside horizontal span of the pipe, feet
B’c ................... outside vertical height of the pipe, feet
Bd .................... width of trench at top of pipe, feet
Bdt ................... transition width at top of pipe, feet
Bf ..................... bedding factor
Bfe ................... bedding factor, embankment
BfLL ................. bedding factor for live load
Bfo ................... minimum bedding factor, trench
Bfv ................... variable bedding factor, trench
Bt ..................... maximum width of excavation ahead of pipe or tunnel, feet

American Concrete Pipe Association • 222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 641 • Irving, Texas 75039-5423 • 972-506-7216 • Fax 972-506-7682
 Glossary of Terms 535

C ............ pressure coefficient for live loads

Cc ............. load coefficient for positive projecting embankment installations
Cd ............. load coefficient for trench installations
Cn ............. load coefficient for negative projecting embankment installations
Ct .............. load coefficient for jacked or tunneled installations
c ............ thickness of concrete cover over the inner reinforcement, inches
c ............ coefficient of cohesion of undisturbed soil, pounds per square foot
Di .............. inside diameter of pipe, inches
Do ............. outside diameter of pipe, inches
D ............ inside diameter of circular pipe, feet or inches
D-load .... the supporting strength of a pipe loaded under three-edge-bearing test conditions
expressed in pounds per linear foot per foot of inside diameter or horizontal span
D0.01 ........ the maximum three-edge-bearing test load supported by a concrete pipe before a crack
occurs having a width of 0.01 inch measured at close intervals throughout a length of at
least 1 foot, expressed as D-Load.
Dult. .......... The maximum three-edge-bearing test load supported by a pipe, expressed as D-load.
d ............ depth of bedding material below pipe, inches
dc .............. deflection of the vertical height of the pipe
E ............ modulus of elasticity of concrete, pounds per square inch (4,000,000 psi)
e ............ base of natural logarithms (2.718)
F.S. ........ factor of safety
H ............ height of backfill or fill material above top of pipe, feet
HAF ....... horizontal arching factor, dimensionless
He ............. height of the plane of equal settlement above top of pipe, feet
h ............ thickness of rigid pavement
If ................ impact factor for live loads
K ............ ratio of active lateral unit pressure to vertical unit pressure
k ............ modulus of subgrade reaction, pounds per cubic inch
L ............ length of ALL parallel to longitudinal axis of pipe, feet
Le .............. effective live load supporting length of pipe, feet
MFI ........... moment at the invert under field loading, inch-pounds/ft
MFIELD .... maximum moment in pipe wall under field loads, inch-pounds/ft
MTEST ..... maximum moment in pipe wall under three-edge bearing test load, inch-pounds/ft
µ .............. coefficient of internal friction of fill material
µ’ ........... coefficient of sliding friction between the backfill material and the trench walls
N ............ a parameter which is a function of the distribution of the vertical load and vertical reaction
NFI ............ axial thrust at the invert under field loads, pounds per foot
NFS .......... axial thrust at the springline under a three-edge bearing test load, pounds per foot
N’ ........... a parameter which is a function of the distribution of the vertical load and the vertical
reaction for the concrete cradle method of bedding
PL .......... prism load, weight of the column of earth cover over the pipe outside diameter, pounds
per linear foot

American Concrete Pipe Association • 222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 641 • Irving, Texas 75039-5423 • 972-506-7216 • Fax 972-506-7682
536 Concrete Pipe Design Manual

p ............ wheel load, pounds

p ............ projection ratio for positive projecting embankment installation; equals vertical distance
between the top of the pipe and the natural ground surface divided by the outside vertical
height of the pipe
p’ ........... projection ratio for negative projecting installations; equals vertical distance between the
top of the pipe and the top of the trench divided by the trench width
po .............. live load pressure at the surface, pounds per square inch or pounds per square foot
P(H,X) ....... pressure intensity at any vertical distance, H, and horizontal distance, X, pounds per
square inch or pounds per square foot
π ............ 3.1416
q ............ the ratio of total lateral pressure to the total vertical load
R ............ inside vertical rise of elliptical, arch pipe, or boxes feet or inches
Rs ............. radius of stiffness of the concrete pavement, inches or feet
r ............. radius of the circle of pressure at the surface, inches
rsd ............. settlement ratio
S ............ inside horizontal span of elliptical, arch pipe, or boxes feet or inches
SL ............. outside horizontal span of pipe (BC) or width of ALL transverse to longitudinal axis of pipe,
whichever is less, feet
sd .............. compression of the fill material in the trench within the height p’Bd for negative projecting
embankment installations
sf ............... settlement of the pipe into its bedding foundation
sg .............. settlement of the natural ground or compacted fill surface adjacent to the pipe
T.E.B. .... three-edge bearing strength, pounds per linear foot
t ............. pipe wall thickness, inches
u ............ Poisson’s ratio of concrete (0.15)
VAF ....... vertical arching factor, dimensionless
Wc ............ fill load for positive projecting embankment installations, pounds per linear foot
Wd ............ backfill load for trench installations, pounds per linear foot
WE ........... earth load, pounds per linear foot
WL ............ live load on pipe, pounds per linear foot
Wn ............ fill load for negative projecting embankment installations, pounds per linear foot
Wp ............ weight of pavement, pounds per linear foot
WT ............ total live load on pipe, pounds
Wt ............. earth load for jacked or tunneled installations, pounds per linear foot
w ............... unit weight of backfill or fill material, pounds per cubic foot
wL ............. average pressure intensity of live load on subsoil plane at outside top of pipe, pounds per
square foot
x ............ a parameter which is a function of the area of the vertical projection of the pipe over
which active lateral pressure is effective
x’ ............ a parameter which is a function of the effective lateral support provided by the concrete
cradle method of bedding

American Concrete Pipe Association • 222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 641 • Irving, Texas 75039-5423 • 972-506-7216 • Fax 972-506-7682