Box Culverts

Engineered Drainage Solutions

Precast concrete box culverts are available in various standard sizes from 6'-0' x 3'-0' to 12'-0' x 12'-0', which can be installed in single line or multi line applications. Custom sizes are available upon request. The box section offers a very simple fast installation on site and can become a roadway or be buried in deep fill situations. Strescon's use of fish weirs benefit fish, by providing resting places as they travel through the box culvert. Head walls are used to stop any material from getting into the waterway. Cut off walls stop the earth from washing out around the box culvert. Beveled and flared end sections help to collect and release the heavier flows of water when required.

General Information

Box Culverts offers the developer / owner many key benefits:

Fast East Installation
Quick to install… a typical precast installation can be made in less than a day. This keeps the project completion time at a minimum and the job costs in line. This ends unnecessarily long road closings, traffic disruptions and rerouting.

Product Versatility
Precast box units are custom made to fit your needs in a wide variety of sizes to meet specialized project requirements. Custom box units such as radius, transition, bent, skewed and angled end units are available.

Multiple Box Spans
Can be achieved by installing two or more rows of box units parallel to each other.

No Cover Required
Flat top surface can accommodate placing the road directly on the structure (zero cover). This feature eliminates or minimizes backfill requirements. Normal backfill procedures are acceptable. No additional lateral restraint from the backfill is required.

Quality Control
Plant fabrication of box units under carefully controlled conditions assures a consistent high quality product.
As a result you receive a factory-inspected product, ready to install immediately upon arrival at the jobsite.
Your installation moves ahead of schedule with no sacrifice in quality or strength due to adverse weather conditions.

Other Applications
Versatile box units can be used as utility and pedestrian tunnels. They can also be installed on their end for use as small enclosures or storage tanks with a precast or cast-in-place concrete bottom.

Similar to Concrete Pipe there are four key steps in proper Installation of Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts. Trench Excavation / Bedding Preparation, Preparing the Bell and Spigot, Installing the Box Culvert, Backfilling.

Trench Excavation / Bedding Preparation
Trenches for RCP should be wide enough to accommodate at least two Box Culverts. This provides sufficient room to verify the required slope, and it helps ensure that any subsequent trenching will not impact the pipe installation or compromise worker safety. The grade (Box Culvert slope) is established during trenching, followed by laying down a bedding material. The bedding should be free of debris and must provide a uniformly level surface.

Preparation of the Bell and Spigot
Clean all dirt, dust and foreign matter from the gasket bell and spigot surfaces. Take extra care to clean the spigot shoulder and gasket. Place the gasket as per the manufacturer’s recommendations around the spigot end of the pipe. The gasket must be placed tight to the spigot step.

Installing the Box Culvert
When setting the Box Culvert into the trench start downstream working your way up stream with the bell end toward the upstream and the spigot end toward the downstream side. Next align the spigot of Box Culvert with the bell of the pipe previously laid. Box Culvert should be aligned so the gasket is in contact with the bell surface around the entire circumference. Place a block of wood across the invert of the pipe to protect the bell. Use a come along to pull the joint home.
Backfilling
The trench can now be filled up to grade, per the project specifications. At any stage during the backfilling process, heavy construction equipment should not drive over the Box Culvert until adequate backfill is in place or the Box Culvert is deep enough that it will not be damaged.