Diagnostic load testing and assessment of a corroded corrugated metal pipe culvert before rehabilitation

Buried culverts are important structures within the civil infrastructure that convey water beneath roadways, bridges, and other systems while also being load bearing. However, many culverts are deteriorating and reaching the end of their design life span, where assessment methods to determine whether replacement or rehabilitation techniques such as spray applied pipe liners (SAPLs) are needed to extend their service life. In this study, mounted sensors and vision-based measurement techniques are used to assess the in situ conditions of a culvert consisting of corrugated metal pipes before being rehabilitated with geopolymer (cementitious-based) SAPLs. Results from diagnostic load tests (variating from static to dynamic) are presented to evaluate maximum deformations, verify the load-carrying effectiveness of the SAPLs, and compare results to design calculations due to the presence of a live load acting on the culvert.