HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

(12:30 – 1:30 PM)

Design and Slope Protection: Channels and

Culverts

John Alex D. Gubantes

BSCE IV
Channels and Culverts
CHANNELS - a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively
shallow and narrow body of fluid, most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait.
Longitudinal Slopes - Gradient longitudinal direction of highway to facilitate movement of water
along roadway.
In designing these Drainage Channels or called as Ditches, we must consider:
• Adequate Capacity
• Minimize hazards to the traffic
• Hydraulic Efficiency
• Ease of maintenance
In terms of the safety, the desirable designs for these ditches are flat slope, broad bottom, and
liberal rounding.
Ditch Shapes
Trapezoidal – generally preferred shape in terms of hydraulics, maintenance, and safety
V-Shaped – less desirable for safety and maintenance.

STEADY FLOW – rate of discharge does not apply time (Manning’s Equation Applies)
Uniform Flow- channel properties are constant along the length of channel
o Slope

o Roughness

o Cross-section

o Water Surface is parallel to the slope channel

Non-Uniform – properties vary

CULVERTS - A culvert is a pipe or box structure generally used as cross drains for ditch relief and
to pass water under a road at natural drainage and stream crossings.
If the construction is a large pipe with a clear opening of 2-4 m, the culvert is defined as
a pipe bridge. The shape of a culvert is usually a round pipe, but culverts can also be pipe arch,
structural arch or box. The shape depends on the site, the required area and the allowable
height of soil cover.
TYPES OF CULVERTS
• Pipe culvert (single or multiple)
• Pipe-Arch culvert (single or multiple)
• Box culvert (single or multiple)
• Arch culvert
• Bridge culvert
• Metal box culvert
Culverts are mainly made of plastic, concrete, or steel.
Culverts pipes are expensive, and the relatively small culvert pipes used for cross-drains can
be susceptible to clogging and require cleaning. That is why, when planning the installation of a
culvert, the most important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the culvert is adequately
sized and has overflow protection. Culverts should also be installed in accordance with the
manufacturer’s instructions and suitably protected from erosion, scour and road maintenance
equipment.
The height and position of a culvert will be dependent on a number of matters:
→ An adequate longitudinal gradient (at least 1% to prevent the accumulation of silt or
mud)
→ The depth of the side ditch
→ The level of the drainage system in the surrounding terrain
→ It should be also kept in mind that many times, in weak soil areas, the road will settle
around the culvert which will cause ditch bottom level to rise.
Culverts should normally be installed orthogonally to the road alignment. They can also be
installed at an angle to the road alignment if required by local circumstances.
Materials for the foundation and backfill, as well as material for transition wedges, should be
non-frost susceptible and should not contain rocks larger than 75mm. The foundation material
should not contain rocks larger than 40 mm. A moist, well graded granular or sandy gravel soil
with up to 10 % of fines is an ideal backfill material.
Top of culvert not used as pavement surface (unlike bridge), usually less than 20 foot span> 20
feet use a bridge.
Three locations
 Bottom of Depression (no watercourse)
 Natural stream intersection with roadway (Majority)
 Locations where side ditch surface drainage must cross roadway

If there are existing roads in the watershed, examination of the performance of existing culverts
often serves as the best guide to determining the type, size, and accompanying inlet/outlet
improvements needed for the proposed stream crossing. For estimating streamflow on many
forest watersheds, existing culvert installations may be used as "control sections". Flow can be
calculated as the product of water velocity (V) and cross-sectional area (A):
 Q=AV
In order to determine the design of our culvert, we must know the flow rate, and even the
velocity of water. To determine the velocity, v, we’ll use the Manning’s formula for open
channels.
2 1
Q 1 3 2
V= = R S (S.I. Units)
A n
2 1
Q 1.49 3 2 (English Units)
V= = R S
A n
V – volume in m/s or in ft/s
Q – flow rate in m3/s or ft3/s
A – cross-sectional area in m2 or in ft2.
R – Hydraulic radius = area/ wetted perimeter
n – roughness coefficient
S - Slope

REFERENCES:
Accessed on October 1, 2019
• Components of Road Drainage System via https://www.roadex.org/e-
learning/lessons/drainage-of-low-volume-roads/components-of-road-drainage-system /
Accessed on October 2, 2019
• Culverts – Types of Culvert – Details & Advantages by civiltoday.com via
https://civiltoday.com/construction/bridge/116-types-of-culvert
Accessed on October 4, 2019
• Design of Open Channels and Culverts via https://slideplayer.com/slide/4562939/
Accessed on October 8, 2019
• Chapter 4 Drainage Design via http://www.fao.org/3/t0099e/T0099e04.htm