Culvert Design

Transportation & the Environment Conference

December 3, 2014
Chris Freiburger – Fisheries Division - DNR
 Perched Piping

Blockage Sediment
What are we after?

•Natural and dynamic stream channel

•Passage of all aquatic organisms
•Low maintenance, flood-resilient road
 Sizing & Placement of Stream Culverts
The Stream Will Tell You!

•Match Culvert Width to Bankfull Stream Width

•Extend Culvert Length through side slope toe
•Set Culvert Slope same as Stream Slope
•Bury Culvert 1/6th Bankfull Stream Width
•Offset Multiple Culverts (floodplain ~ splits lower buried one)
(higher one ~ 1 ft. higher)

•Align Culvert with Stream (or dig with stream sinuosity)

•Consider Headcuts and Cut-Offs

Dr. Sandy Verry
Chief Research Hydrologist

Forest Service
 Mesboac Culvert Design –
0’

• Match Bankfull width

3’

6’

• Extend Culvert to side slope toe

• Set on Channel Slope
 Set Slope
Failure to set culverts on the same slope
as the stream (and bury them 1/6th widthBKF)
is the single reason that many culverts
do not allow for fish passage!
Slope can be measured as:
Slope along the bank (wider variation, than thalweg)
Slope of the water surface (big errors at low flow
or in flooded channels, good
at moderate to bankfull flows)
Slope of the thalweg (this, by far, is the best one)
 Measure a longitudinal profile to allow the
precise placement of culverts.
Precision Setting
is the key to a fully functional
riffle
riffle culvert installation
At each point
1. Bankfull riffle
2. Water surface Setting the elevation
3. Thalweg of the culvert invert
True North Backsight upstream &
riffle downstream
Benchmark
assures success!

riffle riffle

Measure Bankfull elevation, water surface elevation,

and major thalweg topographic breaks
(riffle top, riffle bottom, pool bottom), at each station,
on the longitudinal profile
 1997 LITTLE POKEGAMA CREEK PLOT 7 LONGITUDINAL

1003

1002

1001

1000
ELEVATION-FT

999

998
Bankfull elevation
997

996
Slope = 0.0191 Water Surface elevation
995

Thalweg elevation
994

993
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
THALWEG DISTANCE-FT

1. A line connecting the thalweg riffle points from above and below
the crossing site is the most accurate estimate of stream bottom
 1997 LITTLE POKEGAMA CREEK PLOT 7 LONGITUDINAL

1003

1002
2. Subtract burying depth from
1001
these elevations to find the
1000
elevation of the inverts
ELEVATION-FT

999

998
Bankfull elevation
997

996
Slope = 0.0191 Water Surface elevation
995

Thalweg elevation
994

993
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
THALWEG DISTANCE-FT

1. A line connecting the thalweg riffle points from above and below
the crossing site is the most accurate estimate of stream bottom
Measuring points needed to define the longitudinal profile for a (A)
pool-riffle channel (B) step-pool channel (C) and cascade channel
 Mesboac Culvert Design –
0’

1’
2’
3’

• Consider headcut
Qualitatively evaluate bank stability by observing:
• Bank materials and their layering
• Rooting depth, density and root sizes
• Large, stable woody structure on banks
• Live trees and shrubs that may overhang banks
• Evidence of active bank erosion
 No culvert

Improperly set culvert

Aggradation
Scour pool
Culvert replaced properly

Note gradient increase

Stream Thalweg Stream Slope Culvert

If you don’t address grade!
Deciding how to handle any expected headcutting
requires answers to questions such as the following:
• How much headcutting is likely if no controls are implemented?
How far upstream might it go?

• What effects will the expected headcut have on streambed and

banks? How long will they last?

• Should headcutting be prevented?

• Should headcutting be allowed to occur at an uncontrolled rate?

• Should the rate of headcutting be slowed by temporary grade

controls?
 Stream: Location:
Station: Observers:
Date: Stream Type: Valley Type:
BEHI Score
Study Bank Height / Bankfull Height ( C ) (Fig. 5-19)
Study Bankfull
Bank Height ( A) / ( B) =
Height (ft) = (A) (ft) = (B) (C)
Root Depth / Study Bank Height ( E )
Root Study
Depth Bank ( D) / ( A) =
(ft) = (D) Height (ft) = (A) (E)
Weighted Root Density ( G )
Root
Density ( F) x( E) =
as %= (F) (G)
Bank Angle ( H )
Bank
Angle
as Degrees = (H)
Surface Protection ( I )
Surface
Protection
as % = (I)
Bank Material Adjustment:
Bedrock (Overall Very Low BEHI) Bank Material
Boulders (Overall Low BEHI) Adjustment
Cobble (Subtract 10 points if uniform medium to large cobble)
Gravel or Composite Matrix (Add 5–10 points depending on Stratification Adjustment
percentage of bank material that is composed of sand) Add 5–10 points, depending on
position of unstable layers in
Sand (Add 10 points) relation to bankfull stage
Silt/Clay (no adjustment)

Very Low Low Moderate High Very High Extreme Adjective Rating
and
5 – 9.5 10 – 19.5 20 – 29.5 30 – 39.5 40 – 45 46 – 50 Total Score

Bank Sketch

1 Root

STUDY BANK Height

Depth
(D)

Bank
Vertical distance (ft)

(A)
Angle
(H)

Bankfull

Protection (I)
Surface
BANKFULL
Height (B)

Start
of
0 Bank
0 1

Horizontal distance (ft)

Use cross vanes as grade control
to permanently set a channel
invert
Range of Crossing Ecological Objectives
With fish passage as the overall goal, economics, site logistics,
regulatory requirements and roadway characteristics may dictate a
particular design procedure.

• Geomorphic Simulation recreate or maintain natural stream reach

geomorphic elements including slope, channel-bed width, bed
materials and bedform by using the reference reach.

• Hydraulic Simulation techniques utilize embedded culverts,

natural or synthetic bed mixes and natural roughness elements such
as oversized rock to provide hydraulic conditions conducive to fish
passage.

• Hydraulic Design techniques create water depths and velocities that

meet the swimming abilities of target fish populations and life stages
during specific periods of fish movement.
Infrastructure Safety and Service Life
Culverts “must” be built with consideration of safety and service life.
Larger span culverts will have a greater cross-sectional area for passing
flood events.

Smaller culverts will have a smaller initial cost, but require additional
maintenance and monitoring to avoid debris accumulation (Bates et
al. 2003). Total roadway-stream crossing cost includes several other
capital and recurring items such as installation and long-term
maintenance.
Perched Culvert Longitudinal Profile

Culvert Outlet
 THE BAD……
Drop Structure

Downstream

Upstream
THE BEST ….. Bridge
Tributary to Kraft Creek Step Pool 8.5% slope
Functioning culvert means transporting not
only water but……..SEDIMENT!
It may also be necessary to raise the tailwater elevation
in order to backwater the culvert and provide minimum
flow depths. Sometimes this is all that's required to
retrofit. Many methods are available including:

• Weirs
• Baffles
• Constructed tailwater pools
• Full or partial channel restoration
• Riffle grade control structure/Roughened Channel

Flow over weirs can create velocity and depth barriers,

and it may be necessary to design a series of weirs to
provide fish passage and backwatering the culvert.
Ole’ Bitty Creek, Berrien County
Garfield Lake Drain
Culvert Outlet
boulder weirs
 Looking Downstream

Looking Upstream
Navarro River, California
Concrete Weirs
2.4% slope
Peacock Creek, California
In Culvert and Downstream Grade Control
6.5% slope
 John Hatt Creek

Photo Courtesy of Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife

Smith River, California
In Culvert and Downstream Grade Control
4.3% slope
Upper Pack River, Northern Idaho
Stream Simulation Step-Pool System
3.5% slope
Mynot Creek, California
Stream Simulation
1% slope
UnNamed Tributary to the Pacific Ocean
In Culvert Grade Control
Roughened Channel with Banks 1.2% slope
Roughened
Channel
Roughened
Channel
Two possible project profiles
www.mcgi.state.mi.us/miculverts/
 Future Steps
• Data Collection
– Coarse Level
– Road Soft
– Tablet
– Access
• Sorting and Prioritizing
• Modeling
• Project Implementation
Patrick Ertel
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Division – Habitat Management Unit
989.732.3541 x5047

ertelp@michigan.gov