RES2013-35: Load Rating of Concrete Culverts in Tennessee Under New Emergency Vehicle Loads

Within the Tennessee transportation system, TDOT is responsible for nearly 20,000 highway bridges/transportation structures. Approximately 44% of these structures are classified as culverts. Existing culverts in Tennessee date back as far as 1905 and some of these culverts need to be evaluated for their structural capacity due to aging and wear. Additionally, all culverts that have been designed, built, and maintained by TDOT have to be in compliance with the load rating requirements of the NBIS. The main objective of this research project was to improve upon a set of rating aids that were developed to assist in the assessment of reinforced concrete culverts in Tennessee. Literature reviews were conducted on relevant material for the analyses presented in this paper. After the literature reviews were completed, culverts were modeled in multiple programs to begin the analyses. The analyses include: a verification analysis, a horizontal soil pressure analysis, a rating factor analysis for TDOT dump truck loads, a shear capacity and shear rating factor analysis, and a moment continuity analysis. One of the objectives of this research project was to improve the Culvert Rating Aids to better assist in the assessment of culverts in Tennessee. The improvements included additions of unique features that created a user-friendly interface for the navigation of both the box and slab culvert Rating Aids. Use of the improved Rating Aids only requires a few basic culvert details such as the year they were made, number of cells, cell size, and skew angle, and the Rating Aids best meet the needs of rating engineers for culvert assessment.

• Record URL:
  https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/long-range-planning/research/final-reports/res2013-final-reports/RES2013%E2%80%9335-Part-I-Approved.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $128613
• Contract Numbers:

  RES2013-35

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349
• Managing Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349
• Performing Organizations:

  Tennessee Tech University

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  1020 Stadium Drive Box.5015
  Cookeville, TN  United States  38505
• Principal Investigators:

  Huo, X

• Start Date: 20130613
• Expected Completion Date: 20190330
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Transportation, Planning, Research, and Development

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer models; Databases; Emergency vehicles; Live loads; Load factor; Reinforced concrete culverts
• Identifier Terms: AASHTOWare (Software); Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act
• Geographic Terms: Tennessee
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01762878
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Tennessee Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RES2013-35
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 28 2021 2:15PM