If you’re wondering, “How much does a concrete culvert weigh?”, you probably already know that a concrete culvert is an essential drainage feature, especially in regions that experience heavy rainfall or during the rainy season. Otherwise, you may experience floods that can destroy properties and structures and disrupt daily operations.

Concrete culverts come in different shapes and sizes, including box, round, pear-shaped, and flat-bottomed. Each of these culverts has different weights.

What Is a Concrete Culvert?

A concrete culvert is a pipe made from pre-cast culvert concrete and steel. After a concrete culvert is made, it can be reinforced. A reinforced concrete pipe can withstand large amounts of storm surges, flooding, and runoff, enabling it to serve stormwater detention systems for a long time.

Concrete culverts are usually installed in the ground in places where water flows naturally from one side to another. These culverts offer several advantages, including gaining strength with time, being cheap, and being able to handle a lot of weight.

What Are Concrete Culverts Used For?

Concrete culverts come in different shapes and sizes, and they can be used in various ways, as discussed below.

Railroad Construction

Railroad maintenance and construction heavily rely on box concrete culverts. In fact, under-track culverts have greatly contributed to modern creativity and innovation in the railway construction industry. These culverts ensure railroads serve you efficiently for a long time. Additionally, you can use culverts to replace animal crossings, small bridges, and waterway crossings.

The main advantage of using box concrete culverts in railroads construction is that they can handle pedestrian, cattle, and vehicle weight. Additionally, you can customize these culverts to accommodate different weights.

Road and Highway Construction

Road and highway construction is one of the most common applications for box culverts. These culverts allow roadways to resist the weight of significant traffic loads and the adverse effects of different weather conditions.

Two major reasons why people prefer box culverts for road and highway construction projects are their strength and durability. Additionally, concrete box culverts are flexible. These culverts can be designed to allow water to flow and avoid disrupting the natural flow of streams or rivers, while not obstructing traffic flow. 

Other people prefer using box culverts as animal crossings in road and highway construction.

Utility Work 

Box concrete culverts are useful when it comes to the utility industry. Most times, people use them as a communication line. Some people also use them as tunnels for wastewater and power.

These culverts are particularly useful during construction. With these boxes, you won’t have to forgo running these essential services during or after the construction period. 

Utility tunnels are ideal for regions in extremely cold climatic zones. Burying your utility cables below the frost line in such areas can cause problems. These tunnels are also helpful in areas where the water table is too high to bury the water and sewage pipes. Moreover, if your area is prone to storms and earthquakes, you need to use utility tunnels. Otherwise, your utilities may fail.

How Much Do Concrete Culverts Weigh?

Concrete culverts come in different shapes and sizes, meaning there is no standard weight for these culverts. Therefore, to find the exact weight of your culvert, you need to calculate the weight of your pipe.

Often, concrete culvert sizes start from 12 inches all the way up to 120 inches. A  12-inch pipe usually weighs about 120 pounds per foot.

For a 24-inch nominal pipe size, with a thickness of 3 inches and 8 feet long, the weight is approximately 276 pounds per foot. On the other hand, a 30-inch pipe weighs 398 pounds per foot, while a 36-inch pipe weighs 533 pounds per foot.

Need more information on concrete culverts?

Concrete culverts are essential in everyday life. However, you need to find a pipe that suits your needs for efficiency. If you are looking for a durable and reliable concrete pipe, contact us. We will give you all the information you need. If you don’t find a culvert that fits your needs in our products catalog, we can customize one for you.