A report on and an evaluation of a full-scale load test performed on a con/span culvert are presented in this paper. Because of its intended use, it was important that this three-sided box-arch shape's field performance be evaluated extensively, in addition to rigorous theoretical analysis. A load test procedure was devised to evaluate the structural integrity of this unit and to examine to what extent its field performance compared with its predicted behaviour. The finite element program CANDE was used for the detailed analysis of the structure. CANDE is a program especially written for the evaluation of soil-structure interaction conditions, and is ideally suited to evaluate the effect of the conditions that exist in field testing. The evaluation revealed a good correlation between the performance of the culvert and the finite element analysis used. Perhaps more impressive was the culvert's capacity to sustain an extreme overload.
Abstract