An Overview of Corrosion Risk of Metal Culverts in Arkansas

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR 72467
² Department of Civil Engineering, Arkansas State University, PO Box 1740, State University, AR 72467

^* Corresponding author: mhossain@astate.edu

Abstract

Metal culverts or pipes used in cross-drains along or across the Arkansas highway system are susceptible to corrode over time. Catastrophic incidents such as a complete washout of metal culverts along with roadway can be prevented if proper metals can be selected during the construction project. At present, the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) does not have enough information about corrosion effects on metal culverts. The main objective of this study is to develop a user-friendly corrosion map for Arkansas by analyzing soil properties, water properties, and environmental data collected from the public domain as well as those gathered from laboratory experiments. Experimental data will be used to develop mathematical models to predict the resistivity and corrosive nature of soils. In this paper, relevant literature has been reviewed to narrow down the specific gaps in the available data and limitations in using methods to analyze the risk, challenges in developing regression and neural network models and risk mapping. Findings of this study have helped the research team to design the experimental plan and appropriate metrics need to be considered for developing the predictive models for this study.