Culvert Repair

Project Overview

As a result of periodic culvert inspections the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) identied the existing triple barrel steel plate culvert as requiring some action. Since the roadway above the existing culvert had just been repaved and new guardrail had been installed, VDOT wanted to avoid total replacement at this time. The worst corrosion of the steel was in the invert. In addition, the roadway had been widened in the past and newer pipe was added outside of the original culvert. Corrosion of the culvert was seen at the ow line and the shape of the culvert appeared to be in its original geometry. The roadway embankment was stable and there were no signs of soil movement or cracking.

Solution

Due to the access limitations, the VDOT maintenance crew chose to install the Combat Concrete GCCM perpendicular to the direction of ow. This allowed the maintenance crew to carry smaller pieces rather than installing long pieces parallel to the ow. Water from streams was diverted through another barrel & CC GCCM was installed in the dry. A power actuated fastening system was chosen to secure the GCCM to the existing plate structure because of the thickness of the plate. This method lead to a rapid installation and the un-hydrated Combat Concrete GCCM was installed in less than a day.

Strips of the CC GCCM were lowered from the roadway above to the berm just outside the inlet of the culvert using an excavator. VDOT had the choice of hydrating the GCCM by either pumping water from the nearby stream or bringing a water truck to the site.

Results

VDOT will evaluate the performance of the Combat Concrete GCCM to determine whether to line the ow line of the other two barrels of this triple barrel culvert.