Materials
Culverts can be constructed of a variety of materials including cast-in-place or precast
concrete (reinforced or non-reinforced), galvanized steel, aluminum, or plastic, typically highdensity polyethylene. Two or more materials may be combined to form composite structures. For
example, open-bottom corrugated steel structures are often built on concrete footings.
Design and engineering
Construction or installation at a culvert site generally results in disturbance of the site soil,
stream banks, or streambed, and can result in the occurrence of unwanted problems such as scour
holes or slumping of banks adjacent to the culvert structure.
Culverts must be properly sized and installed, and protected from erosion and scour. Many
agencies such as U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
Bureau of Land Management (BLM,and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)as well as
state or local authorities require that culverts be designed and engineered to meet specific
Federal, State, or local regulations and guidelines to ensure proper function and to protect against
culvert failures.
Culverts are classified by standards for their load capacities, water flow capacities, life spans,
and installation requirements for bedding and backfill. Most agencies adhere to these standards
when designing, engineering, and specifying culverts.
Environmental impacts
This culvert has a natural surface bottom connecting wildlife habitat. Vermont Safe and stable
stream crossings can accommodate wildlife and protect stream health while reducing expensive
erosion and structural damage.
Undersized and poorly placed culverts can cause problems for water quality and aquatic
organisms. Poorly designed culverts can degrade water quality via scour and erosion and also
restrict aquatic organisms from being able to move freely between upstream and downstream
habitat. Fish are a common victim in the loss of habitat due to poorly designed crossing
structures. Culverts that offer adequate aquatic organism passage reduce impediments to
movement of fish, wildlife and other aquatic life that require instream passage. These structures
are less likely to fail in medium to large scale rain and snow melt events.
Poorly designed culverts are also more apt to become jammed with sediment and debris during
medium to large scale rain events. If the culvert cannot pass the water volume in the stream, the
water may overflow over the road embankment. This may cause significant erosion, washing out
the culvert. The embankment material that is washed away can clog other structures downstream,
causing them to fail as well. It can also damage crops and property. A properly sized structure
and hard bank armoring can help to alleviate this pressure.
Culvert style replacement is a widespread practice in stream restoration. Long-term benefits of
this practice include reduced risk of catastrophic failure and improved fish passage. If best
management practices are followed, short-term impacts on the aquatic biology are minimal.
Minimum energy loss culverts
In the coastal plains of Queensland (north-east Australia), torrential rains during the
wet season place a heavy demand on culverts. The natural slope of the flood plains is often very
small and little fall is permissible in the culverts. Professors Gordon R. McKay and Colin J.
Apelt developed and patented the design procedure of minimum energy loss culverts which yield
small afflux. Colin J. Apelt, professor (emeritus) of civil engineering at the University of
Queensland, presented an authoritative review of the topic (1983), a documentary video
(1994),and a commemorative speech (2011).
A minimum energy loss culvert or waterway is a structure designed with the concept of
minimum head loss. The flow in the approach channel is contracted through a streamlined inlet
into the barrel where the channel width is minimum, and then it is expanded in a streamlined
outlet before being finally released into the downstream natural channel. Both the inlet and outlet
must be streamlined to avoid significant form losses. The barrel invert is often lowered to
increase the discharge capacity.
The concept of minimum energy loss culverts was developed by Norman Cottman, shire
engineer in Victoria (Australia) and by Professor Gordon McKay, University of Queensland
(Brisbane, Australia) during the late 1960s,While a number of small-size structures were
designed and built in Victoria, some major structures were designed, tested and built in SouthEast Queensland.
Conclusion:
Water is flowing without any distrabance and travel in safely.