Live Load Effect in Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts Under Soil Fill

The objective of this study is to determine the effects of live load (truck loads) on bridge-size (spans greater than 20 ft) reinforced concrete box culverts under soil fills of different thickness. Testing results show that live load effect does diminish with increasing fill depth. The AASHTO LRFD and LFD Standard Specifications were both overly conservative in predicting strains and displacements compared to the field data for fill depths less than 8 ft. At above 6 ft of fill the measured effect of the live load was less than 10% of the dead load effect. This could be considered as a point at which to ignore the live load effect and therefore not load rate the culvert.

Title: Live Load Effect in Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts Under Soil Fill
Published: February 2014
Report number: cmr 14-009
Project number: TR201314
Author(s): Sarah Orton, Erik Loehr, Andrew Boeckmann, and Garrett Havens
Performing organization: University of Missouri-Columbia

Links to reports:
Final Report (2.0 MB, 45 pages)
Appendix A-All Results (3.1 MB, 110 pages)