Effect of haunch on the stresses of box culvert

• Main Author: Osama S. Hussien
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIMS Press 2020-01-01
• Series: AIMS Environmental Science
• Subjects: box culverts; haunch; cushion; earth pressure; surcharge loading; breadth of the culvert
• Online Access: https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/environsci.2020003/fulltext.html

Culverts are often required under earth embankment to allow for the crossing of a watercourse, like streams, to prevent the road embankment from obstructing the natural waterway. The opening of the culvert is determined based on the waterway required to accommodate the design flood, whereas the thickness of the culvert section is designed based on the loads applied to the culvert. From the previous literature review, it is noted that the effect of haunch on the stresses of the culvert was not studied. Therefore, this research focuses on the impact of using haunches on the economy of the culvert design. This paper studies some design parameters of box culverts, such as the thickness of the haunch, the coefficient of earth pressure, the thickness of box culvert, and depth of fill on the top slab. The objectives show the effect of haunch on the stresses of the box culvert. The study investigated the variation in stresses and the cost comparison made for different width of the box culvert. The percentage reduction in the cost of culvert based on the presence of haunch is presented. At last, several significant conclusions are given based on numerical results as the presence of haunch is the best solution for decreasing the values of stresses from the economic point of view.