Culverts and Sewers – Buried but not forgotten

While largely out of sight and neglected for decades, the deteriorated state of our buried pipe infrastructure is now attracting considerable attention. An overview of a number of recent studies is presented, featuring both experimental and computational work to explore soil-pipe interaction and the performance of new, deteriorated, and repaired pipe systems. The presentation starts with a description of the large scale buried infrastructure test facility at Queen’s, and experiments examining the strength of a 10 m span deeply corrugated metal box culvert, and the effect on adjacent infrastructure of pipe replacement using pipe bursting. Computational work aimed at understanding the stability of deteriorated culverts and sewers is then briefly discussed, considered structural damage to rigid and flexible pipes, as well as erosion of the soil surrounding them.

Trained at the University of Sydney in Australia, Dr Ian Moore held positions at the University of Newcastle and the University of Western Ontario before his appointment as Canada Research Chair in Infrastructure Engineering at Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario in 2001. Dr Moore is a leading international expert on municipal pipe and highway culvert infrastructure. His more than 200 technical publications examine both conventional and trenchless installation and replacement of buried metal, concrete and thermoplastic pipes, contributing to North American and international codes of practice. Dr Moore initially trained as an analyst specializing in soil-pipe interaction. However, over the past decade Dr Moore and his colleagues at Queen’s have developed unique facilities to undertake experimental studies that complement their computational work.