Proper Culvert Installation

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Proper Culvert Installation
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Installation Checklist

• Conforms to Permits
• Proper Location
• Proper Alignment
• Appropriate Slope
• Good Compaction
• Proper Length

This perched culvert blocks fish passage..
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Permits Special Conditions
Regulatory agency permits, special conditions and
environmental commitments that are necessary for
constructing the project are contained within the
Special Provisions. It is important that
you READ THEM BEFORE YOU BEGIN.!
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We Dont Conform to the Permits Because We Are
Required to Do So. We Conform Because We Want
to Be Environmentally Friendly
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Fish Passage Culverts

• Carefully Designed to Pass Fish
• Weve Worked with FG for over 15 years to
  develop Design Criteria.
• DONT BLOW IT.

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Fish Passage Design

• Aimed at weak swimming or juvenile fish
• Culvert is designed to pass fish during a two
  year flood
• Design balances length, water velocity and fish
  swimming strength

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Ask Before Change a Fish Passage Culvert

• Length
• Slope
• Alignment
• Bottom Elevation

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Proper Location

• Should approximate the stream location a closely
  as practical unless the design calls for
  something different.

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Proper Alignment

• Align the culvert to have minimal impact on the
  stream.

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Alignment Considerations

• Water doesnt like shape turns.
• Get the water across the road expeditiously
• When possible approximate the natural stream.

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Select the Appropriate Slope and Pipe Elevation

• The wrong slope or elevation can affect the
  stability of the stream hundreds of yards
  upstream and downstream.

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Things to Consider in Establishing the Slope and
Pipe Elevation

• Use the average slope by surveying 300 ft
  upstream and 300 ft downstream of the pipe
  location.
• Use the same information to establish the
  elevation.
• On new construction, the existing stream bottom
  can be used.

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Compaction

• The Key to the Life of a Culvert

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Start by Bedding the Culvert

• Refer to Section 204 Structure Excavation for
  Conduits and Minor Structures

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Failure to Properly Bed Culvert

• A convex bottom
• Varying slope
• Band Failure
• Piping of soil resulting in pipe failure

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Carefully Control Compaction up to the Spring Line

• Use properly graded material. Again refer to
  Section 204

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Culverts Depend on Uniform Soil Pressures for
Their Strength
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Failure to Get Proper Compaction

• Culvert Cross-section deformation
• Culvert Collapses
• Piping of soil

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Select the Proper Length

• The Wrong Length Can Lead to Culvert Failure

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Too Short

• Can Lead to Embankment Deterioration
• Can Result in Undercutting of Culvert
• Reduces inlet efficiencies thereby reducing pipe
  capacity

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Too Long

• Results in buoyant failures especially upstream
• Often results in perched Pipes
• Often cantilevers the culvert
• An eyesore