Easier installations saves time and money.
Installing precast concrete pipe or box culverts provides a lower risk for specifiers, designers, and owners, reducing the overall public liability after the project has been commissioned.
When it comes to ease of installation, no other alternative material outperforms precast concrete pipe or box culverts. The products’ rigidity and mass makes it less reliant on the installation, saving costs in both the near and long-term. Plus, precast concrete pipe joints are easily assembled, which helps minimize the time needs for installation (see below). As a rigid system, the pipe’s strength accounts for 85% of the installation and only 15% is dependent on the strength derived from the soil envelope—giving more confidence to the system’s longevity and proper installation.
With precast concrete pipe and box culverts, there is an unlimited range of pipe strengths and strength is demonstrated prior to installation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Benefits of specifying concrete pipe:
- Design Control – Designers have more control over pipe strength than any other facet of the project
- Less Installation Dependance – There is less reliance on quality installation by the installer
- Material Costs – Lower embedment material cost
- Less Compaction – There is less compaction required
- Grade & Alignment – It is easier to maintain grade and alignment
- Less Deflection – There are no excess deflection concerns
- Lower Life Cycle – There is a lower life cycle cost of the project
- Lower Maintenance – There is a lower maintenance cost over the design life of the project
Types of Installation
- Type 1: Highest Quality installation using select granular soils with high compaction requirements for haunching and bedding.
- Type 2: Allows silty granular soils with less compaction required for haunching and bedding.
- Type 3: Allows use of soils with less stringent compaction requirements for haunching and bedding.
- Type 4: Allows use of onsite native material for haunching and bedding with no compaction required. (6 inches of bedding is required if rock foundation)
Joints
Concrete pipe offers a variety of joints from soil-tight to pressure. They are not affected by the type of backfill used for the installation. Joint performance must be demonstrated in the plant prior to pipe installation, and joint integrity can be field tested in a variety of ways. With concrete pipe, deflection will not compromise field joint test capability. The cross sectional rigidity of concrete pipe makes joint assembly a simple operation. Rigid joint integrity will minimize the likelihood of embedment intrusion and subsidence of overfill, often referenced as infiltration.
