Assessing and Monitoring Performance of Small Culverts

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has adopted a policy requiring all culverts to be inspected every 5 years, resulting in around 9,600 small culverts needing to be inspected annually. Many of these culverts have small diameters that preclude human inspection. Culvert failures can be expensive, such as the recent high-profile collapse under I-89S near Richmond, Vermont (this was a 96” culvert not anticipated in the scope of this project). With improved methods of monitoring and assessing the conditions of culverts, proper maintenance or replacement projects can be planned and implemented before catastrophic failure of a culvert occurs. This project will build on previous research by the research team on improved low-cost robotic culvert inspection systems, i.e., the HIVE 2.0. The research will fine tune the design for low-cost assembly and durability, then build a small fleet of tank-style robots, examine performance, add techniques for enhanced telemetry and surveillance. Additional research includes the development of low-cost flow sensors and explore the use of legged dog robots for culvert inspection.

    Language

    • English

    Project

    • Status: Active
    • Funding: $134,987
    • Contract Numbers:

      VTRC023-601

    • Sponsor Organizations:

      Vermont Agency of Transportation

      219 North Main Street
      Barre, VT  United States  05641
    • Start Date: 20231001
    • Expected Completion Date: 20250930
    • Actual Completion Date: 0

    Subject/Index Terms

    Filing Info

    • Accession Number: 01933025
    • Record Type: Research project
    • Source Agency: Vermont Agency of Transportation
    • Contract Numbers: VTRC023-601
    • Files: RIP, STATEDOT
    • Created Date: Oct 9 2024 12:07PM