Abstract:
The Box Culverts are drainage structures that allow to cross, small to medium scale water paths.
They generally founded in soil where scouring is not an issue. The advantage of the box culvert
is that it can be rested on the soil where low bearing pressures exists. Box culverts are also
often used in expressway construction when underpasses are needed for the traffic of by-roads
that crosses the expressway embankment. The present highway structure design practice in Sri
Lanka is based on the British Standards of BS 5400 that was published by British Standard
Institution (BSI) in 1978 and then amended a number of times subsequently and along with the
Bridge Design Manual (1991), Published by Road Development Authority, the apex body of
managing A & B class of road in Sri Lanka. Since the BS codes have been superseded by BS
EN (the English version of Euro Codes) in March, 2010, it is now opportune to adopt the
recommendations of BS EN for the structural design of highway structures and hence box
culvert design will also need updating. In the research presented, a detailed study has been
carried out as a comparative study by considering number of possible arrangements of Box
Culverts that are typically used in Sri Lanka. The reason is that BS EN allows a loading regime
from which different values can be selected in contrast to the current BS based practice. The
detailed analysis, with finite element method (FEM) , have been carried out for different types
of loading specified in the BS EN; the results have been compared with the resulting forces
due to the currently adopted standards to find suitable loading levels that can be recommended
for the adoption of Sri Lanka. The results are presented in graphical form to allow the selection
of different levels of loading based on the effects on the main design parameters.
Citation:
Sumanasinghe, A.K.Y.B. (2022). Eurocode loads and its implications to design of box culverts in Sri Lanka [Master's theses, University of Moratuwa]. Institutional Repository University of Moratuwa. http://dl.lib.uom.lk/handle/123/20082