INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: Construction of Culvert Box

Box culvert is a precast concrete structure that is commonly used to channel water and
usually used in a drainage system. They are suitable to be used for crossing a stream with
restricted flow under a railway bridge with high embankment or below a road because of
their monolithic horizontal and vertical slab. The box culvert is usually up to the span or 4m
and is often no more than 3 meters of height. Box culverts are used because of their rigidity
and they don’t require a construction of a foundation because the bottom slab of the culvert is
will function as ground slab and will stay directly on the ground.
There are many types of culverts with varied cell numbers, the reason behind this is
that the number of cells affects the amount of pressure from the water flow that can be
handled. Water flows with higher water pressure requires us to use culvert with higher
number of cells while we reduce the number of cells with lower pressure water to keep the
construction cost low and efficient.
Before beginning the construction of the culvert box, excavation and clearing need to
be done on the desired structure area. We do this to clear out the vegetation or any obstacle
from allowing us to do the construction process. We would also excavate the soil to make
sure the site reach the desired depth to place the box culvert. A back filling process would
also need to be done in order to ensure that the soil is dense enough to hold the box culvert
and prevent from the making the ground sink. It is also important to ensure the soil would be
perfectly horizontal and stable to be used by the civilians.
Then right after the ground has been filled and compacted, we will mark the area that
will be used to put the box culvert using stakes and string lines to ensure that the construction
process will be done correctly.
When building the box culvert, we are able to utilize the usage of both lean concrete
or crusher run and now we will be using a layer of crusher run as the layer of the base to
ensure that the box culvert that we will build will have a stable foundation. Crusher run also
cost less than lean concrete and, in this case, where we need to drain water, crusher run is
preferable as it can provide a good water drainage.
We need to begin the construction from the base slab or ground slab first, we will start
with measuring the layouts and dimensions of the slab to ensure that it is correct and then we
will install the formwork of the slab and ensure that the dimensions and stability of the slab is
good. Next, we will place the reinforcement bars according to the design and tie them
together, ensure that the bars are inspected thoroughly and placed correctly while meeting the
design requirements. Before pouring the concrete, we need to do a pre-pour inspection where
we will check the reinforcement and formwork to ensure that they are correct to the design
specifications and stability. Then finally, we will pour the concrete while using vibration to
make sure there is no air pockets and the distribution of the concrete is uniform. When the
pouring is done we will smoothen the surface and then do some curing based on the damage
on the concrete.
After the completion of the ground slab, we will build the wall where we start the
process with laying out the measurement of where the walls will be placed on the ground
slab. Right after measuring, we will place the formwork for the walls and make sure that it is
supported to ensure that it will not move during the concrete pouring process so there will be
no deformation. Next, we will put the reinforcement bars inside the formworks according to
the design and use supports to maintain them in the correct position and then inspect either
their placement is accurate to the design. Same as slab we need to do a proper inspection
before the concrete pouring process to ensure that the formwork is stable, and the
reinforcement has been installed correctly and only then we can pour the concrete into the
formwork of the wall by layers and using vibration to avoid air pockets. Finally, we will
finish the wall properly and cure the walls to make sure they reach he desired strength and fix
any deformation immediately.
Now after finishing the construction of wall slab, we will start to build the roof or the
top slab. We start the construction of top slab by first installing the formwork and the
temporary support structures for the top slab. We need to ensure that each formwork and
falsework is stable and correctly placed and then we will continue the construction by placing
the reinforcement bars according to the design and make sure that it is placed accurately.
Then we will need to do a pre-pour inspection and right after we verified that the formwork
and reinforcement has been setup in a proper position, we can start pouring the concrete
uniformly and ensure that there is no air pockets at the same time using vibration. Finally we
will do some finishing process on the surface of the concrete and cure any slab to make sure
there is no deformation and reaching the desired strength.
After the box culvert have been constructed, we will start building the apron slab by
first marking the dimensions of the apron slab around the base slab. Then we will install the
formwork of the apron slab and check to make sure that the dimensions are correct and
stable. Next, we will insert the reinforcement bars according to the designs and ensure that
they are in correct place before doing a final pre-pouring inspection to make sure that the
formwork and reinforcement bar is accurate. Finally, we will pour the concrete of the apron
slabs and finish the surfaces before finally implementing the curing procedure.
The final structure is the wing walls and we can begin its construction by setting out
the measurement of the wing walls position around the box culvert. Then we will start to put
up the formwork and make sure that the placement is correct according to the design and
stable. Then we will put the reinforcement bar inside the formwork according to the design
and make sure that they are accurate to the plans. We will then do an inspection to ensure that
everything is in order before pouring the concrete of the wing walls that is followed by a
surface finishing and curing procedures implementation. Finally we will do a site restoration
process after the construction is finished to its original looks by following the processes of
landscaping, road surfacing and some other works.