Analysis of the Poplar Creek Box Culverts

The objective of this study is to evaluate structural design of the precast concrete box culverts used on the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) construction project at Poplar Creek in Bristol District. With a maximum embankment height of 310 feet, it will be one of the deepest box culvert installations in the USA upon completion. Initially, VDOT considered a tall bridge for the mountainous region in southwest Virginia but a design change to box culverts was opted for based on the economic analysis. Significant uncertainties associated with the box culverts included the lack of generally accepted design guidelines stemming from limited practical knowledge of the actual soil stresses acting on buried structures under very high embankment fills. The proposed study is intended to address these specific knowledge gaps and develop recommendations for future VDOT designs of similar projects.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $502925
• Contract Numbers:

  124654

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Managing Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Project Managers:

  Hoppe, Edward

• Performing Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903

  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

  Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
  3500 Transportation Research Plaza
  Blacksburg, VA  United States  24061
• Principal Investigators:

  Hoppe, Edward

  Jacques, Eric

  Yerro-Colom, Alba

  Koutromanos, Ioannis

• Start Date: 20240103
• Expected Completion Date: 20260531
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Box culverts; Precast concrete; Structural design
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01902904
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Virginia Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 124654
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Dec 21 2023 10:32AM