Model tests and theoretical studies on earth pressure on shallow positive buried culverts

The distribution of earth pressure over a positive rigid culvert buried in non-cohesive soil is studied by means of model tests and theoretical analyses. Based on the measured results from the full-scale physical model tests and the Marston’s theory, a more reasonable analytical model of earth pressure over the culvert is proposed, and the principal parameters are determined based on the test data. The test results with various buried depths on culvert top show that the proposed model can describe the earth pressure distribution over the culvert effectively. The concentration phenomenon of earth pressure on top of the stiff culvert becomes more significant as buried height increases. The normal earth pressure between the soil and the culvert increases first and decreases afterwards with the distribution angle for lower embankment height, whereas it increases monotonically with the distribution angle for high embankment height.