Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts, Second Edition

Federal Highway Administration2001PDFTech ReportNorman, Jerome M.Houghtalen, Robert J.Johnston, William A.Ayres AssociatesUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Bridge TechnologyNational Highway Institute (U.S.)Thompson, Philip L.Morris, Johnny L.United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Bridge TechnologyUnited StatesCulvertsHydrologyCulvert inletsCulvert outletsCritical depthFHWA-NHI-01-020DTFH61-97-D-00025Thompson, Philip L.Hydraulic Design Series Number 5 combines culvert design information previously contained in Hydraulic Engineering Circulars (HECs) No. 5, No. 10, and No. 13 with hydrologic, storage routing, and special culvert design information. The result is a comprehensive culvert design publication. Hydrologic analysis methods are described, and references cited. Culvert design methods are presented for both conventional culverts and culverts with inlet improvements. Storage routing techniques are included which permit the designer to account for ponding effects upstream of the culvert. Unique culvert applications, erosion and sediment control, debris control, structural aspects, and long-span culverts are discussed and references cited. Inlet control, outlet control, and critical depth design charts, many of which are newly developed, are included for a variety of culvert sizes, shapes, and materials. New dimensionless culvert design charts are provided for the design of culverts lacking conventional design nomographs and charts. The appendices of the publication contain the equations and methodology used to construct the design charts, information of the hydraulic resistance of culverts, and methods of optimizing culvert design using performance curves and inlet depression. Calculation forms are provided for most of the design methodologies in the manual. The second edition has corrected minor errors and provided both SI and English (U.S. customary) units for all equations and design charts.121