Columbia, KY — KY DOT Rehabilitation of Failed Reinforced Concrete Pipes

Columbia, KY RCP Culverts

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Abstract

The prime contractor for the Columbia Bi-Pass project for the Kentucky Department of Transportation District 8 faced an expensive problem with little time for decision making. This Field Report presents an existing application where an installation of a Reinforced Concrete Pipes (RCP) pipe just one year before was failing and rehabilitated using SnapTite HDPE Pipe.

Introduction
Columbia, KY had built a new stretch of highway and overpass in 2007 to alleviate traffic in the downtown area of Columbia. One year later the two 60-inch RCPs were direct buried over 40 feet of fill, the pipes started to fail, causing major concern with the KY DOT. There was a need to evaluate a less costly alternative repair method than to dig up the new stretch of road.

The Problem
Cracking along the parts of the culvert were popping up, along with exposed re-bar inside the pipe. The joints started to separate, exposing the gaskets. On the southbound pipe the water on the inlet side was actually flowing under the first two sections of the RCP pipes. And, in one part of the northbound pipe, the RCP had collapsed over eight inches. At this rate, the culvert was due to collapse at any moment.

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