Provided in this study are fill height tables and graphs that give the maximum allowable burial depth of regularly produced sizes of corrugated polyethylene pipe with diameters ranging up to 30 in. The employed design criteria satisfy the proposed american association of state highway and transportation officials specifications for service load design of plastic pipe including thrust stress, vertical deflection, flexural strain, and buckling. Both short-term and long-term polyethylene properties are used for the design evaluation, as well as the influence of soil type and compaction. Design solutions are determined with the aid of the CANDE computer program and compare favourably with laboratory test data. As a final result, knowing values for the inside and outside diameter along with the corrugated sectional area, an engineer may determine the maximum allowable burial depth for a 50-year design life by directly reading from the tables and graphs that are presented as a function of soil type and compaction. In addition, design guidelines are provided to interpolate the increase in allowable burial depths for design periods less than fifty years.
Abstract