Culvert Basics
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Objectives
Know the basic definition and types
Know the basic types of culvert flow
Know how to determine HW depth for inlet
control
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Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts
USDOT/FHWA
HDS 5 (highway design series #5)
PDF available at:
http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/FHWA/012545.pdf
Most of the images in this powerpoint
presentation were taken from HDS 5
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Concrete Box Culvert
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Box culvert with fish passage
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Corrugated metal horseshoe culvert
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Bottomless culvert USF&W
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Some culvert, huh?
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Culvert or Bridge?
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Culvert Design
Conduit placed under a road to carry water
from one side to the other
Designed to pass a design flow w/o
overtopping the road
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Design Setting
a river
a plan to build a road crossing
need to design the road crossing
- given river slope, geometry, & design flood
- given desirable roadway elevation
- design culvert (unknown size) to pass
“Design Flood” with suitable freeboard
(design criteria)
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Analysis Setting
An existing culvert or bridge (known size)
a river passing underneath
determine water level under certain flood
condition or vice versa
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Design Considerations
Flared ends improve efficiency
Use culverts as wide as stream width
Use same gradient as stream channel
Use same alignment as stream channel
Single large culvert is better for debris
passage than several small ones
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Culvert
Hydraulically short conduit which conveys
stream flow through a roadway embankment
or past some other type of flow obstruction
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Definition Sketch
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Culvert Flow
Complex
Pressure flow
Open channel flow
Combination
Variables
Slope
Pipe Diameter, Length and Roughness
Entrance Design
Exit Design
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Culvert Shapes
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Culvert Materials
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Culvert Materials-other
Corrugated Aluminum
Plastic
Polyethylene
Polyvinylchloride (PVC)
Stone
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Inlet types
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Culverts
End
treatment
includes
projected,
flared, &
head and
wing walls
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Culvert Hydraulics
Complete theoretical analysis is
difficult
Flow conditions vary from culvert
to culvert
Flow conditions vary over time
May flow full or partly full
Flow control-inlet or outlet
HDS approach is to analyze
culvert for both types of flow
control and design for minimum
performance
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Flow Conditions
Full Flow (pressure) – rare
Party Full (free surface) Flow
Subcritical
Critical
Supercritical
Evaluate flow regime via Froude #
Fr<1 Subcritical – Smooth flow, tranquil, low velocities
Fr=1 Critical Flow (point of minimum specific energy)
Fr>1 Supercritical – Swift, rapid, high velocities
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Headwater (HW)
Depth of upstream water surface measured
from invert of culvert entrance
Should not exceed edge of shoulder elevation
(account for freeboard)
Should not be so high as to cause flooding
problems
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Headwater (HWo)
Depth of upstream water surface measured
from invert of culvert outlet
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Tailwater (TW)
Depth of downstream water surface measured
from invert of culvert outlet
Usually determined by backwater calculations
Sometimes determined by normal depth
calculations
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Outlet Velocity
Outlet velocities are
usually higher than in
natural channel
(constriction)
High velocities can cause
streambed scour and bank
erosion
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Inlet Control
Inlet controls (or limits) the flow
Harder for flow to get through the entrance of
the culvert than it is to flow through the
remainder of the culvert
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Outlet Control
Outlet controls (or limits) the flow
Harder for flow to negotiate length of culvert
than it is to get through the inlet (entrance)
The flow is a function of the headwater elevation, inlet area, inlet edge
configuration, inlet shape, barrel roughness, barrel shape and area, slope, and
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tailwater level .
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Performance Curves
Plot of HW depth or elev.
versus flow rate
Inlet control curves
Outlet control curves
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Economics
Risks
Decrease w/ larger culvert
Costs
Increase w/ larger culvert
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Data Requirements-Hydrology
Peak Flow Stream gage/regression/rational
method/TR-55
Check Same as above
Flow(other than
design flow)
Hydrograph Stream gage/ synthetic methods
Storage routing
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Data Requirements
Site Data
Culvert Location Maps
Waterway Data Field Surveys
Cross Sections
Long. Slope
Resistance
Roadway Data
Cross Section
Roadway Plans
Profile
Culvert Length
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Data Requirements
Design Headwater
Critical pts Roadway plans
Surrounding bldgs Maps/plans/photos
Regulatory Floodplain/flood insurance
Constraints regs
Arbitrary Constraints State or local regs
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flush inlets, and 1.0 for well-rounded inlets.
Case 1 Outlet control, mild slope, TW<yc
Compute headwater with Eq 1.
• Starting with y=yc at the outlet, perform flow
•If HW>I.2D, then Case 5.
profile analysis to find ye at the inlet.
Compute headwater with Eq 1.
Case 6. Outlet control, pipe flow, TW<D
• If HW<1.2D, then Case 1.
Check if Yn>D. Culvert may flow full unless
hydraulically short (case 5).
Case 2. Outlet control, mild slope, TW>yc
•Compute H with Eq.3.
• Starting with y=TW at the outlet, perform
Compute headwater from:
flow profile analysis to find ye at the inlet.
HW = H + 0.8D - SoL (box culvert)
Compute headwater with Eq 1.
HW =-H+ 0.75D - SoL (circular culvert)
• If HW<1.2D, then Case 2.
IfHW>I.2D, then Case 6.
Case 3. Inlet control, steep slope, TW<D
Case 7. Outlet control, pipe flow, TW>D
y=yc at inlet. (weir control)
• Culvert will flow full. Use Bernoulli
Compute headwater with Eq 2.
equation to solve for discharge given HW
• If HW<1.2D, then Case 3. and
TW, or for HW given TW and Q.
Case 4. Inlet control, steep slope, TW>D • Compute H with Eq. 3.
y=yc at inlet. (weir control) • Compute headwater from:
• Compute headwater with Eq 2. HW=H+TW - SoL
If HW<1.2D, then Case 4. • If HW>I.2D, then Case 7.
Case 5. Inlet control, pipe flow, TW<D Case 8. Inlet control, pipe flow, TW>D
• First, check if yn<D. If not, culvert will flow • ye=CcD at inlet.
full unless hydraulically short. • Compute headwater with Eq 1.
• ye=CcD where Cc is an orifice contraction • If HW>1.2D, then Case 8.
coefficient, equal to 0.62 for sharp edged,
Key Approaches
Critical flow does not occur on mild slopes,
except under certain special, temporary
condition [such as inlet control (3)]
Critical flow always occurs at the inlet of a
steep slope, except when the inlet is deeply
submerged [H/D > 1.2-1.5]
On mild slopes, most likely it’s outlet control
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Approaches
For unsubmerged inlet control,
- for culvert on steep slope, use critical flow
condition to determine the discharge
- for culvert on mild slope, use weir equation
to compute flow
For submerged inlet control, use orifice flow
equation to compute discharge
For outlet control, perform energy balance
between inlet and outlet
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Design Procedure
1. Establish design criteria - Q, HWmax, and other
design data – L, S, TW, etc.
2. Determine trial size (e.g., A=Q/10)
3. Assume inlet control, compute HW
-unsubmerged, weir flow eq.
-submerged, orifice flow eq.
4. Assume outlet control, compute HW
5. Compare results of 3 & 4. The higher HW governs.
6. Try a different size until the design criteria are met
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Problem
Design Discharge Q25 5.663 m³/s
Tailwater for Design Flood TW 1.067 m
Natural Stream Bed Slope So 0.01 m/m
Approximate Culvert Length La 60.960 m
.
Elevation at Shoulder ELs 33.528 m
Elevation of Allowable Headwater Elha 32.918 m
Elevation at Culvert Face ELi 30.480 m
Dia=1.05 m
Q=3.4 cms
1. Square edge with
headwall
• HW/D=2.5
• HW=2.68
2. Groove end with
headwall
• HW/D=2.1
• HW=2.26
3. Groove end projecting
• HW/D=2.2
• HW=2.35
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Hy8 program
HY-8, a HDS No. 5, "Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts" dated April 2012. Last version 7.03 in 2014. The
equations are in 015808.pdf fajl.
Program start, hy8
Program menu; Fájl , Display, Culvert, Window,Help
SI units
Culvert-Culvert Crossing Data
Culvert Crossing Data
Inlet control
wier S1 if TW>dc flow type 1
S2 if TW<dc
orifice
S1 if TW>dc flow type 5
S2 if TW<dc
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Inlet
Hydraulics
Entrance Unsubmerged
(weir)
Entrance Submerged
(orifice)
Transition (in between;
poorly defined)
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Outlet control
wier flow type 2
if TW<dc if TW=dc M2
wier
flow type 3
M2 if TW>dc
orifice Type 4 pressure flow
flow type 4, 6 if TW>D
Type 6
if TW<D but TW>dc M2
flow type 7
M2 if TW<dc
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Tailwater
Ateresz adatok
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Open-bottom culvert
Embedded culvert
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Hydraulics-Energy Equation (EGL)
HW and TW depths and elevations
Velocity head (u/s & d/s)
Head losses
Friction loss through the barrel
Entrance/Exit losses
Bend/Junction/Grate losses
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Outlet control hydraulics
• Darcy-Weisbach equation for circular pipes
friction head loss hf = f L/D V2/2g
or for non-circular channels, using hydraulic
radius R=A/P=D/4 to replace D:
hf = f L/(4R) V2/2g
kf = f L/(4R)
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Outlet control hydraulics
• Manning’s equation to compute friction loss
v = (1.0 R2/3 S1/2) / n
S = v2 n2 / (R4/3)
hf = SL = v2/2g (19.63 n2L/R4/3)
kf = 29.1 n2L/R4/3
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Definitions: Head (Friction) Losses
He-entrance loss
Hf-friction loss through the barrel
Ho-exit loss
Other potential losses due to bends, junctions and
grates
Add losses up to calculated the total energy required
to “push” water through the barrel
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Analyze Crossing
Red
critical
depth
Blue depth
of flow
felszíngörbék különböző vízhozamokra (Water surface profiles)
hidraulikai méretezési lehetőségek (Culvert Summary Table)
4,00
3,50
Áteresz
3,00 összeggörbe
2,50
HW (m)
2,00
1,50 II Típus
1,00 IV Típus
0,50 hy8
0,00
0,00 2,00 4,00 6,00 8,00 10,00
Q (m3/s)
Roadway Topping
Water flows over the road and through the
culvert
Flow over the road – broad crested weir
Usually occurs on sag curve
Represent sag w/ a single horizontal line
Represent sag w/ a series of lines
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Roadway overtopping
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Definitions: Velocity
Vu-channel velocity upstream of the culvert
V-velocity through culvert barrel
Vd-channel velocity downstream of the
culvert
Vu/Vd are often assumed to be minimal and
left out of the equations
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Exit velocity, energy disippators
Inlet control
TW
Outlet control
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