Long-span reinforced steel box culverts

A comprehensive investigation of soil-metal structure interaction for long-span deep-corrugated reinforced steel box culverts was carried out in a project sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada in 1996. Two 12-m span box culverts were erected at a Dorchester, New Brunswick, test site using two backfill densities, one structural steel plate thickness, and a minimum cover of 300 mm. These structures are the largest steel box culverts erected to date. One structure was reinforced using continuous deep-corrugated crown stiffeners, and the other was intermittently reinforced using composite concrete metal-encased stiffeners. Strain and deflection of the structure were monitored in response to static axle loads positioned at six locations on the test surface. A finite element model was then used in numerical simulations of the soil-metal structure system. The measured culvert response was then compared with results from the finite element model. A nonlinear soil-structure interaction program (NLSSIP) was used to analyze the two long-span box culverts. NLSSIP was developed specifically for long-span soil-metal culverts and has been used for structures with and without stiffeners. The box culvert test provided a definitive relationship between soil stiffness and metal structure stiffness. The test was the first that evaluated intermittently reinforced composite concrete metal-encased stiffeners relative to conventional continuous reinforcement. The performance of the two types of stiffeners is evaluated and recommendations are made for future design and installation of long-span deep-corrugated steel box culverts.