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<br /> <br />Section 1. NEED FOR CULVERT INSPECTIONS <br /> <br />1-1.1 Introduction. <br /> <br />Over the years. culverts have traditionally received less attention than <br />bridges. Since culverts are less visible it is easy to put them out of mind. <br />particularly when they are performing adequately. Additionally. a culvert <br />usually represents a significantly smaller investment than a bridge and in the <br />event of a failure usually represents much less of a safety hazard. <br /> <br />Since 1967 there has been an increased emphasis on bridge safety and on bridge <br />rehabilitation and replacement programs. In many cases small bridges have <br />been replaced with multiple barrel culverts. box culverts. or long span <br />culverts. There have also been recent advances in culvert design and analysis <br />techniques. long span corrugated metal culverts, as shown in exhibit 3, with <br />spans 1n excess of 40 feet were introduced in the late 1960's. <br /> <br /> <br />." . '~: .~J~IAl ,'}i <br />~'''II .~ ,.' <br />--\it-." _~_:l.__ _..:-.' ~, ... .';_-....:.; ..~~ <br />' , .'~ 'e <br />-.. ~.. <br />, <br />. '. <br />" <br /> <br />Exhibit 3. This long span high profile arch replaced a <br />small bridge 1n North Carolina. <br /> <br />As a result of these developments, the number. size, complexity, and cost of <br />culvert installations have increased. The failure of a culvert may be more <br />than a mere driVing inconvenience. Failure of a major culvert may be both <br />costly and hazardous. as shown in exhibit 4. <br /> <br />4 <br />