This practice is intended for the structural design of corrugated aluminum pipe and pipe-arches, and aluminum structural plate pipe, pipe-arches, and arches for use as culverts, storm sewers, and other buried conduits. This practice is for pipe installed in a trench or embankment and subjected to highway, railroad, and aircraft loadings. It must be recognized that buried corrugated aluminum pipes are composite structures made up of the aluminum ring and the soil envelope, and both elements play a vital part in the structural design. Corrugated aluminum pipe and pipe-arches shall be of annular fabrication using riveted seams, or of helical fabrication having a continuous lockseam. Structural plate pipe, pipe-arches, and arches shall be fabricated in separate plates that when assembled at the job site by bolting form the required shape. The design load or pressure on a pipe is comprised of earth load, live load, and impact load. Strength requirements for wall strength, buckling strength, and seam strength may be determined by either the allowable stress design (ASD) method (involves calculation of required wall area and critical buckling stress) or the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) method (involves calculation of factored loads, factored thrust, factored resistance, wall resistance, and seam resistance). Requirements for handling and installation rigidity and minimum cover are detailed. Design considerations for deflection, smooth-line pipe, spiral-rib pipe, pipe-arch, pipe materials, soil, minimum spacing, end treatment, abrasive or corrosive conditions, construction and installation, and structural plate arches are provided.

1.1 This practice is intended for the structural design of corrugated aluminum pipe and pipe-arches, and aluminum structural plate pipe, pipe-arches, and arches for use as culverts and storm sewers and other buried conduits. This practice is for pipe installed in a trench or embankment and subjected to highway, railroad, and aircraft loadings. It must be recognized that a buried corrugated aluminum pipe is a composite structure made up of the aluminum ring and the soil envelope, and both elements play a vital part in the structural design of this type of structure.

1.2 Corrugated aluminum pipe and pipe-arches shall be of annular fabrication using riveted seams, or of helical fabrication having a continuous lockseam.

1.3 Structural plate pipe, pipe-arches, and arches are fabricated in separate plates that when assembled at the job site by bolting form the required shape.

1.4 This specification is applicable to design in inch-pound units as Specification B 790 or in SI units as Specification B 790M. Inch-pound units and SI units are not necessarily equivalent. SI units are shown in brackets in the text for clarity, but they are the applicable values when the design is done in accordance with Specification B 790M.

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.