Design of Culverts

CE154 Hydraulic Design

Lectures 8-9

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Culverts
Definition - A structure used to convey
surface runoff through embankments.
It may be a round pipe, rectangular box,
arch, ellipse, bottomless, or other
shapes.
And it may be made of concrete, steel,
corrugated metal, polyethylene,
fiberglass, or other materials.
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Culverts
End
treatment
includes
projected,
flared, &
head and
wing walls

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Concrete Box Culvert

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Box culvert with fish passage

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Corrugated metal horseshoe culvert

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Bottomless culvert USF&W

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Some culvert, huh?

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Culvert or Bridge?

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Study materials
Design of Small Dams (DSD) pp. 421
429 (culvert spillway), 582-589
(hydraulic calculation charts)
US Army Drainage Manual (ADM),TM
5-820-4/AFM 88-5, Chapter 4,
Appendix B - Hydraulic Design Data
for Culverts

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Study Objectives
Recognize different culvert flow
conditions
Learn the steps to analyze culvert
hydraulics
Learn to design culverts

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Definition Sketch

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Definition Sketch

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Relevant technical terms

Critical depth
The depth at which the specific energy
(y+v2/2g) of a given flow rate is at a
minimum
Soffit or crown
The inside top of the culvert
Invert & thalweg
Channel bottom & lowest point of the
channel bottom
Headwater
The water body at the inlet of a culvert
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Relevant technical terms

Tailwater
The water body at the outlet of a
culvert
Submerged outlet
An outlet is submerged when the
tailwater level is higher than the culvert
soffit.

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Relevant technical terms

Inlet control
Occurs when the culvert barrel can convey
more flow than the inlet will accept. The
flow is only affected by headwater level,
inlet area, inlet edge configuration, and
inlet shape. Factors such as roughness of
the culvert barrel, length of the culvert,
slope and tailwater level have no effect on
the flow when a culvert is under inlet
control.
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Relevant technical terms

Outlet control
Occurs when the culvert barrel can not
convey more flow than the inlet can
accept. The flow is a function of the
headwater elevation, inlet area, inlet
edge configuration, inlet shape, barrel
roughness, barrel shape and area, slope,
and tailwater level.
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Relevant technical terms

Normal depth
Occurs in a channel reach when the flow,
velocity and depth stay constant. Under
normal flow condition, the channel slope,
water surface slope and energy slope are
parallel.
Steep slope
Occurs when the normal depth is less than
the critical depth. The flow is called
supercritical flow.
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Relevant technical terms

Mild slope
Occurs when the normal depth is higher
than the critical depth. The flow is
called subcritical flow.
Submerged inlet
An inlet is submerged when the
headwater level is higher than
approximately 1.2 times the culvert
height D. (Why is it not simply higher
than 1.0 times D?)
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Relevant Technical Terms

Freeboard
Safety margin over design water level
before overflow occurs (in a unit of
length)
Free outlet
An outlet condition at which the
tailwater level is below the critical
depth, whence further lowering of the
tailwater will not affect the culvert
flow
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Design Setting
a river
a plan to build a road crossing
need to design the road crossing
- given river slope, geometry, & design
flood
- given desirable roadway elevation
- design culvert (unknown size) to pass
Design Flood with suitable freeboard
(design criteria)
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Analysis Setting
An existing culvert or bridge (known
size)
a river passing underneath
determine water level under certain
flood condition or vice versa

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Inlet control (1)

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Inlet control (2)

>

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Inlet control (3) sharp edge inlet

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Outlet control (1)

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Outlet control (2)

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Outlet control (3)

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Outlet control (4)

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Intermittent control

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Key Approaches
Critical flow does not occur on mild
slopes, except under certain special,
temporary condition [such as inlet
control (3)]
Critical flow always occurs at the inlet
of a steep slope, except when the inlet
is deeply submerged [H/D > 1.2-1.5]
On mild slopes, most likely its outlet
control

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Approaches
For unsubmerged inlet control,
- for culvert on steep slope, use critical
flow condition to determine the
discharge
- for culvert on mild slope, use weir
equation to compute flow
For submerged inlet control, use orifice
flow equation to compute discharge
For outlet control, perform energy
balance between inlet and outlet
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Critical Flow Condition

yc = (q2/g)1/3
Fr = vc/(gyc)1/2 = 1
vc = (gyc)1/2
Ec = yc + vc2/2g = 3/2 yc
q = unit discharge = Q/width (for non-circular
conduit; for circular pipe use table to find critical
condition)
Fr = Froude number
E = specific energy
y = depth
c = subscript denotes critical flow condition
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Weir Flow
Weir flow equation
B = culvert width
Cw = weir discharge coefficient, an
initial estimate may be 3.0
note that this eq. is similar to equations
for ogee crest weir, broadcrested weir,
sharp crest weir
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Orifice Flow
Inlet control with submerged inlet,

Cd = orifice discharge coefficient, an

initial estimate 0.60
b = culvert height
HW-b/2 = average head over the
culvert
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Outlet control hydraulics

Energy balance between inlet and outlet
2

H LSo TW (k en k ex k f ) V
2g

en

entrance loss coef . on p. 426 DSD & B 12 ADM

TW tailwater elevation

k
k

ex

exit loss coefficient typically from 0.1to 1.0

friction loss coefficient

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Outlet control hydraulics

Entrance loss coefficient on p.B-12 of
ADM and p. 426 & 454 of Design of Small
Dam
Exit loss coefficient: as a function of area
change from the culvert (a1) to
downstream channel (a2)
Kex = (1- a1/a2)2
= 1 for outlet into reservoir
Friction loss coefficient may be computed
using Darcy-Weisbach or Manning equation
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Outlet control hydraulics

Darcy-Weisbach equation for circular
pipes
friction head loss hf = f L/D V2/2g
or for non-circular channels, using
hydraulic radius R=A/P=D/4 to replace D:
hf = f L/(4R) V2/2g
kf = f L/(4R)
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Outlet control hydraulics

Mannings equation to compute friction
loss
v = (1.49 R2/3 S1/2) / n
S = v2 n2 / (2.22 R4/3)
hf = SL = v2/2g (29.1 n2L/R4/3)
kf = 29.1 n2L/R4/3 - see Eq. on p. B-1
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Design Procedure
1. Establish design criteria - Q, HW max, and other
design data L, S, TW, etc.
2. Determine trial size (e.g., A=Q/10)
3. Assume inlet control, compute HW
-unsubmerged, weir flow eq.
-submerged, orifice flow eq.
4. Assume outlet control, compute HW
5. Compare results of 3 & 4. The higher HW
governs.
6. Try a different size until the design criteria are
met
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Example (1)
A circular corrugated metal pipe culvert,
10 in diameter, 50 long, square edge with
headwall, on slope of 0.02, Mannings
n=0.024, is to convey flood flow of 725 cfs.
Tailwater is at the center of the culvert
outlet. Determine the culvert flow
condition.
Assuming first if the slope is steep, inlet
control. If mild, outlet control.
Determine if the slope is steep or mild by
comparing normal and critical flow depth,
e.g. tables from Design of Small Dams
(DSD)
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Example (1)
Q = 725, n = 0.024, D = 10 ft, S = 0.02
Qn/(D8/3S1/2) = 0.265
Table B-3, it corresponds to d/D = 0.541, or the
normal depth dn = 5.41 ft
Q/D2.5 = 2.293
From Table B-2, find d/D = 0.648, or the critical
depth dc = 6.48 ft
dc > dn, so the 0.02 slope is steep inlet control
Critical flow occurring at the culvert entrance
Use Figure 9-68 (or Figure B-8 of DSD p.585) for
circular culverts on steep slope to determine
headwater depth
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Example (1)

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Example (1)
For Q/D2.5 = 2.293, and square edge
inlet, Curve A on figure 9-68 shows
H/D = 1.0
The headwater is at the culvert soffit
level, and it drops to 6.48 ft at the inlet
and continues to drop to 5.41 ft to flow
through the culvert, before dropping to
5 ft at the outlet.
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Example (2)
Concrete pipe (n=0.015) culvert 10 ft in
diameter, 0.02 slope, square edge, vertical
headwall, Q = 1550 cfs, tailwater at pipe
center at outlet. Determine the culvert
flow condition.
Q/D2.5 = 1550/(10)^2.5 = 4.90
Qn/(D8/3S1/2) = 0.35
dn determined from Table B-3, d/D=0.65
dc determined from Table B-2, d/D = 0.913
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Example (2)
The culvert will run open-channel, same
as in Example (1) and the water level
drops to the pipe center level at the
outlet.
To compute headwater level, Figure 968 shows that H/D = 2.15
The culvert entrance will be submerged,
with water level dropping to dc = 9.13 ft
at the inlet and continues dropping to dn
= 6.5 ft for the bulk length of the pipe.
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Example (3)
Same condition as in Example (1), with
corrugated pipe 10 ft diameter, S=0.02,
L=300 ft, tailwater level at pipe center,
Q=2000 cfs. Determine flow condition.
Q/D2.5 = 2000/(10)^2.5 = 6.32
Qn/(D8/3S1/2) = 2000*0.024/(65.4) = 0.73
Critical depth at 9.65 ft, practically full
flow
Normal depth shows full flow since data
is out of range of table outlet control
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Example (3)
Calculate entrance loss coefficient
square edge flush with vertical headwall
(p.426) Ken = 0.5
Calculate exit loss coefficient
tailwater at pipe centerline, outlet
channel is not supported, full exit
velocity head is lost
Kex = 1.0
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Example (3)
Calculate friction loss coefficient
R = A/P = D/4 = 2.5
n = 0.024
Kf = 29.1 n2 L / R4/3 = 1.48
Eq. (32) on p. 425 shows that
H/D + L/D So 0.5 = 0.0252(kex + ken + kf)(Q/D5/2)2
H/10 + 30*0.02 0.5 = 0.0252 (1+0.5+1.48)(6.32)2
H = 29 ft
Check using Figure B-10 of Design of Small Dams or
Figure B-13 of Reader graphical solution shows
H=32
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Example (4)
Design a culvert for the following
condition:
- Design Flow Q = 800 cfs
- culvert length L = 100 ft
- Allowable headwater depth HW = 15 ft
- Concrete pipe culvert
- Slope S = 0.01 (1.0%)
- Tailwater level (TW) at 0.8D above
invert at outlet
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Example (4)
1. Select a trial culvert pipe size
Assuming culvert flow velocity V = 10 fps
A = Q/V
= 800/10
= 80 ft2
D = sqrt(804/)
= 10.1 ft
Say D = 10 ft
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Example (4)
2. Assuming inlet control:
- using rounded inlet to reduce headloss
- Q/D5/2 = 2.53
- From Figure 9-68 of DSD, H/D = 1
This is a conservative design. Reasonably
H/D could be designed as high as 1.2 to
maintain un-submerged inlet condition.
Check by using Figure B-7 of DSD. The
rounded inlet is similar to groove inlet
(see Table B-1 of ADM)
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Example (4)
3. Assuming outlet control:
- First determine the outlet flow condition.
From Table B-2 of DSD, at Q=800 cfs,
Q/D5/2=2.53, the critical depth dc=0.682D.
Hence, TW=0.8D is above the critical level.
The normal flow is determined from Table
B-3 of DSD. Use n=0.018 for aged
concrete. Qn/D8/3S1/2=0.31
dn=0.6D
The normal flow depth is 6.0 ft in the
culvert
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Example (4)
The normal flow condition is:
- from Table B-3 again, A/D2 = 0.492
- An = 49.2 ft2
- Vn = Q/An = 16.3 fps
- R = hydraulic radius = 0.278D = 2.78 ft
- Fr = Froude number = V/(gR)1/2 = 1.7
- This shows that flow is supercritical in
the culvert. It transitions to the tailwater
depth at the outlet (S3 or jump). TW flow
may be supercritical or subcritical,
depending on the downstream slope.
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Example (4)
To compute the headloss of the outletcontrol condition:
HW + SoL = HL + TW
HL = (Ken + Kex + Kf)V2/2g
Ken = 0.2 for rounded edge with
headwall
Kex = 1.0 being conservative since not
all the velocity head is lost (draw profile)
Kf = 29n2L/R1.333
= 0.24
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Example (4)
HL = (1 + 0.24 + 0.2) V2/2g
= 1.44 (16.3)2/64.4
= 5.94 ft
The energy balance equation becomes
HW
= HL + TW SoL
= 5.94 + 8 0.01100
= 12.94
HW/D = 12.94/10 = 1.3
4.Compare the headwater depth for inlet and
outlet conditions, select the higher value
for design.
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Example (4)
The governing headwater depth is 13 ft
5.This is less than the maximum of 15 ft of
the allowable headwater depth. Hence, it
is acceptable.
The culvert size may be reduced slightly to
reduce cost and still meets design criteria.
Hence, use 10 ft diameter concrete pipe
rounded edge at inlet
maximum headwater depth 13 ft
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Culvert failure modes along forest

roads in northern CA

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Design Considerations

Flared ends improve efficiency

Use culverts as wide as stream width
Use same gradient as stream channel
Use same alignment as stream channel
Single large culvert is better for debris
passage than several small ones

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