NTL Record

Title Culvert Design for Aquatic Organism Passage: Hydraulic Engineering Circular Number 26
Record ID 73728
Personal Name
Creator
Kilgore, Roger T.; Bergendahl, Bart; Hotchkiss, Rollin H.
Personal Name
Contributor
Goodell, Christopher; Johnson, Alan; Thompson, Philip; Rainey, Steve; Frei, Christopher M.
Corporate Creator Central Federal Lands Highway Division
Corporate
Contributor
Kilgore Consulting and Management; United States. Federal Highway Administration
Publisher Central Federal Lands Highway Division
Publication Date 20101001
Language English
Abstract This document presents a stream simulation design procedure, methods and best practices for designing culverts to facilitate aquatic organism passage (AOP). The primary goal of this document is to incorporate many of the current geomorphic-based design approaches for AOP while providing a procedure based on quantitative best practices. It presents a bed stability-based approach that accounts for the physical processes related to the natural hydraulic, stream stability, and sediment transport characteristics of a particular stream crossing. Specific information on fish, or other aquatic organisms, is not required, but should be incorporated when required. The document provides a context for stream crossing design and describes the applicability of the design procedure. It also provides important background information a designer should be familiar with including how culverts create barriers, techniques for culvert assessments and inventories, fish biology, fish passage hydrology, stream geomorphology, construction, and post-construction. Detailed technical information supporting the practices used within the design procedure and several design examples are included in the appendices. The core of the document is a 13-step design procedure. Step 1 involves determination of the hydrologic requirements for the site for both flood flows and passage flows. Step 2 defines the project reach and establishes the representative channel characteristics appropriate for the design. Steps 3 and 4 are to identify whether the stream is stable (Step 3). If not, channel instabilities are analyzed and potentially mitigated (Step 4). In Step 5, an initial culvert size, alignment, and material are selected based on the flood peak flow. Subsequently, the stability of the bed material is analyzed under the high passage flow (Steps 6 and 7) and flood peak flow (Steps 8 and 9). Steps 10, 11, and 12 focus on the velocity and depth in the culvert. However, these parameters are not compared with species-specific values, but rather are compared with the values upstream and downstream of the culvert ensuring that if an organism can pass the upstream and downstream channel, it will also be able to pass through the culvert. Step 13 allows the designer to review the completed design.
Public Note Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: Bart Bergendahl. Technical Support: Christopher Goodell, Alan Johnson, Philip Thompson, Steve Rainey, Christopher Frei.
Rosap ID dot:44352
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/44352
TRT Terms Culverts; Aquatic life; Hydraulics
General Subjects Culvert design; Aquatic organism passage (AOP); Fish passage
Geographical
Coverage
United States
TRIS Online
Accession No
1333801
Report Number FHWA-HIF-11-008; HEC-26
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/73000/73700/73728/FHWA-HIF-11-008.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository