BRIDGE & CULVERT HYDRAULICS

Course Code:- HE-5233

Semester :- II
Prerequisite:- Road Engineering ECTS CH:-
3
Instructor:- Addisu B.
Section:- G5HWRE-1&2
Hawassa University (2020/21)
Hydraulic & WR Engineering Dep’t
 1. INTRODUCTION

• Introduction
• Why study bridge & culvert hydraulics?
• Hydraulic causes of bridge & culvert failure
• Data required
 2. CULVERT HYDRAULICS

• General/Introduction
• Classification of flow types at Culvert
• Culvert flow controls (Inlet and outlet control)
• Principles & Criteria of culvert Design
• Hydraulic design of culverts
• Design procedures of culvert
 3. BRIDGE HYDRAULICS

• General/Introduction
• The effect of bridge on river flow
• Types of flow in bridge waterway
• Hydraulic performance of bridge
4. Software Application for Culvert and Bridges.

• General
• Application of HY-8
• References
• ERA manual , 2002
• Bridge hydraulics, Les Hamill
• Hydraulic structures, p. Novak
• Any related books
• Mode of evaluation
• Continuous assessment 50%
• Final Examination 50 %
• Total 100 %
 1.1 INTRODUCTION
• If a roadway is constructed along an alignment that
meets a river or stream, then a suitable crossing is
required to provide continuity of the roadway across
the stream.
• For ecological continuity, if a bridge or culvert
crossing is provided, then the opening that
accommodates the stream must have a width, slope,
and surface treatment that provides for the free flow
of the “ecological traffic” through the structure.
• 6
 …
• The flow through the structure includes the passage of
water, sediment, and natural debris, and in addition
both the upstream and downstream movement of
aquatic organisms.

• Culvert:- A structure that supports a roadway or other

access way over a water body by means of a fully
enclosed conduit (complete pipe or box) that always
has a constructed bottom and does not typically have
abutments or piers.
 …
• Common culvert types include circular (round) pipe,
elliptical pipe, pipe‐arch and square or rectangular box.
 …

• Bridge: A structure that supports a roadway or

other access way over a water body by means
of a span.
• This type of structure does not have a
constructed structural invert (bottom) and
therefore does not fully enclose the channel
that it spans.
 …
• It may consist of a deck supported on
abutments or piers, open‐bottom box or half‐
pipe, or other structural arch.
 Why Study Bridge & Culvert Hydraulics?

• Many people, indeed many engineers, who are

not familiar with the subject, imagine that
constructing a bridge/culvert across a river is
entirely a problem in structural engineering.
• They assume that the bridge/ culvert opening
can be made so large that it will completely
span the river at such a height that floodwater
will never rise anywhere near the deck.
 …
studying the bridge Hydraulics is important because of,
 Building a new bridge/culvert in a river first being
able to prove by calculation or modeling that the resulting
backwater will not cause flooding of land and property
upstream.

 At locations where there is an existing bridge/culvert

and significant flooding, an analysis may be required to
determine how much of the flooding is caused by the
bridge/culvert and how much by others
 1.3 HYDRAULIC CAUSES OF BRIDGE &
CULVERT FAILURE

• White et al.(1992) commented on a bridge failures

in the USA and observed that the most common
cause was floods and the other actions of water.
• More specifically, two factors were identified: one
was scour, and the second was debris. Of the two,
damage caused by scouring of the bottom material
around the foundation (most of the time around
piers and abutment) found to be the most prevalent.
 …
• Scour in its widest sense may also include
lateral erosion of the riverbanks in the vicinity
of a bridge (Fig. below).
…
• Fig. Lateral erosion d/s of the bridge. The line of the original river
bank is shown by the dashes. Changes of this type can significantly
alter the angle at which the flow hits the piers and thus affect scour
depths.
• Debris that obstructs the river channel either
upstream or downstream of the structure may
be sufficient to change the water levels at the
site significantly and thus change the hydraulic
performance of the bridge/culvert. Alternative
may cause the river to change its course.
Debris
 COMPARISONS BETWEEN CULVERTS & BRIDGES

Culverts are used:

 Where bridges are not hydraulically required

 Where debris and ice potential are intolerable
 Where more economical than a bridge. Etc…
Bridges are used:

• Where culverts are impractical

• Where more economical than a culvert
• To satisfy land-use and access requirements
• To accommodate ice and large debris.
• If you have heavy sediment loads or moving boulders. etc …
 There are differences in the hydraulic assumptions and
analyses used for culverts and bridges.
• The analysis of open channel flow in any structure can be
based on relatively simple normal depth assumptions or on
more complicated gradually varied flow calculations.
• Culvert hydraulic analysis often assumes no velocity
approaching the culvert or in the channel immediately
downstream of the culvert, which overestimates entrance
and exit energy losses . And The tailwater condition in the
channel downstream of a culvert is typically based on
normal depth analysis.
• Bridge hydraulic analysis is typically based on gradually
varied flow calculations providing a more accurate water
surface profile throughout the crossing.
 1.4 DATA REQUIRED

• TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS:-To determine channel and floodplain

width, to help identify possible crossing sites, to obtain the
channel gradient, and to indicate floodplain & forested areas in
the upstream( to suggest debris problems.).
• GEOLOGICAL MAPS AND SOIL MAPS :-
• Provide some details about the local geology and the
likelihood of the channel migrating or of scour being a
problem.
• HYDROLOGICAL DATA:- Such as gauging station records,
annual maxima, stage-discharge relationship, and flow-
duration curve. These are needed to help identify the design
discharge.
• METEOROLOGICAL DATA:- Rainfall depths and intensities,
snowfall and snow-melt, temperature range and wind speed. These
data may help in assessing the possibility of flash flood, and of ice
formation and ice loading on the superstructure . The wind speed can
be used to assess potential wave heights. Both ice and waves may
have to be allowed for when determining the height of the deck.
• RIVER CHANNEL DATA:-Things such as the roughness of the
channel and floodplains (say for use in the Manning equation) are
never easy to determine at the best of times and may have to be
inferred initially from preliminary visits to the site.
• It may be difficult to determine the width and depth of the river
channel from maps.
• All cross drains shall be designed to have sufficient hydraulic
capacity to convey the selected design frequency flood without
damage to the structure and approach embankments, This
requires evaluation of the following:-
• Design Flood
• Overtopping flood
• Backwater
• Tailwater
• The design flood is defined as the flood or storm surge
• associated with the probability of exceedence (frequency)
selected for the design of a highway infringement. This
frequency, known also as the "design frequency”.
• Once the design frequency is determined, a discharge for the
selected frequency can also be determined. This discharge is
also known as the "design discharge“.
• The base flood is defined as the flood or storm surge having a
1-percent chance of being exceeded in any given year.
• The overtopping flood is described by the probability of
exceedance and water surface elevation at which flow begins
over the highway.
• Backwater is defined as the increase of water surface
elevation induced upstream from a bridge, culvert, dike,
dam etc.
• Tail water :- For sizing of cross drains and the determination
of headwater and backwater elevations, the highest tail
water elevation which can be reasonably expected to occur
coincident with the design storm event shall be used.
Thank You
 test
1) Compare and contrast b/n culvert and
bridge? Mention at least three points?
2) What are the common and specific hydraulic
cause of failure of culvert and bridge?